Miles
by Miss Starfire
Summary: After graduating from the Tomorrow Academy, the three young superheroes had no option but to go their separate ways. Even though they are miles apart, Pepper and Tony will not let their friendship be affected by the distance between them, and they will do anything in their power to not lose the greatest gift they can give one another: their devotion to each other.
1. Prologue

Greetings, my Faithful Readers!

I've been playing with the notion of translating my IMMA Spanish fic titled _Kilómetros_, and I've decided that it cannot hurt to do so. In fact, it's probably good to give you some nice fanfic to read while you wait for the sequel for _The Last Month_, and it is only fair that I show you my appreciation for your millions of reviews, favs and follows in my other stories (OK, maybe not millions, but I can dream, right?).

Also, you may want to thank a Guest reviewer who left a comment in _Kilómetros_, stating that she/he wished she/he spoke Spanish. Whoever you are, thanks for the final push :)

Please keep in mind that this is not just a translation but an adaptation, so it might not turn out exactly like the Spanish version, but that won't mean that either one will be of better quality than the other. You may also encounter some OOCness here and there, but it just serves to create the fluff. I hope you don't mind it that much.

This fic was born from listening to a Spanish song by the title of – you guessed it – Kilómetros, by a duo named "Sin Bandera." The song is pretty much about a long distance relationship and the guy who sings it states how much the phone conversations between him and his girl made him survive the distance between them. Still interested? Read on.

**Standard disclaimer for all my stories**: My stories are graphic, angsty, frustrating, filled with cliffhangers, drama and foul language. Read at your own risk – medical issues and subsequent bills are not covered by yours truly ;) If you don't like, please don't read. I appreciate reviews and constructive feedback but if you cannot stand the plot, save yourself and me some time and walk away. You don't have to love all IM stories :) I don't own IMAA. My stories are better viewed by using the "half screen" option of

**Summary:** After graduating from the Tomorrow Academy, the three young superheroes had no option but to go their separate ways. Rhodey is going to the Air Force Academy in Colorado, Tony goes to MIT, and Pepper has been admitted to Berkeley University in California. Even though they are miles apart, Pepper and Tony will not let their friendship be affected by the distance between them, and they will do anything in their power to not lose the greatest gift they can give one another: their devotion to each other.

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**MILES  
**

**Prologue**

It was the day after Tony and Pepper had said goodbye to Rhodey at the airport and the resulting sadness of said fact was still present in the Makluan Temple. The farewell had been very emotional for the trio and it had left them all with a bittersweet feeling deep within them. Even though the parting had been expected and planned, it had not made it any easier on them to accept it had to transpire. They were painfully aware that they were all now adults, and that as such they would have to start facing the cruel twists of life.

Cruel twists such as the one that had hit them today.

Due to a change of plans from Berkeley University, Pepper now had to leave today – two days ahead of schedule. When Tony had received the notification about this adjustment via text message this morning, he could have not felt any more disappointed. Seeing Rhodey leave and not knowing when the hell he would see his childhood friend again had been difficult enough, but the feeling of powerlessness and emptiness he had then felt did not hold a candle to the pain he felt in his heart at knowing his favorite redhead would leave his side sooner than previously stipulated.

_You would think that a privileged school would have their shit straight way ahead of time but nooo! They just had to pull that stunt on us and ruin my day._ The genius thought angrily. He had spent weeks planning how he and Pepper would spend the last days of their summer together, but now everything was ruined. His eagerness to being able to hang around together one last time had gone down the drain along with his plans of showing Pepper just how much he was truly going to miss her.

_A few hours aren't gonna be enough_, Tony thought as he was hard at work on finishing up his goodbye present for Pepper. _Of all the things I had in mind for us, this is the only thing I'll have time to get Pepper before she has to leave._

"Son of a _bitch_!" Tony screamed in an angry tone when he realized he only had one more hour until Pepper had to head to the airport. "I have to finish this piece of crap before she leaves!"

"Piece of crap? Since when do you devote yourself to inventing crap?" A familiar voice asked from the doorway.

"Pepper!" Tony almost fell off his chair in surprise. "I didn't even hear you come in. How…how long have you been here?"

"Long enough to know you're in a bad mood."

"No, Pep. I'm not in a bad mood. I'm just…well…busy…rushed…"

"Rushed?" asked the redhead. "With what? I don't have a lot of time left but I could probably help you with something."

"No, thanks," Tony answered too quickly, causing the girl's shoulders to slump. "But," he continued. "I wouldn't mind the company," he added with one of his patented smiles.

The redhead's eyes shone brightly with happiness and she ran toward him, sitting next to him while he worked silently. "Did you break your Stark Pod?"

"No," he answered. "This is an upgraded version; more powerful and with way more storage."

"Ohhh!" Pepper mused in the same way she always did when Tony created something new. "Are you gonna put games on it?"

Tony could not help to laugh aloud "Jeez, Pepper! I'm potentially creating the most advanced cell phone on the planet, and you're worried about it having games?"

"It's a rather important feature, don't you think?"'

"Pep, you're a famous superhero. How do you even have time to worry about getting bored and think about cell phone games?

"California is way too far away from Massachusetts and Colorado," Pepper deadpanned. "'Sides, the life of a superhero is only fun if you and Rhodey are around, to be honest."

"Aw, Pepper! You don't have to exaggerate! I mean, I know I'm one of a kind and extremely handsome and all, but it's not that big of a deal, right?"

Pepper rolled her eyes at him. "I hope college rids you of your arrogant attitude, Tony."

"You're so mean, Pepper. I'm just stating the truth and…ha! It's finished!" Tony said with a smile before handing the pod to his friend.

"It looks just like your old pod." Pepper frowned as she eyed the device and tried to determine what made it so special.

"But it's not, for two main reasons: the first one is that, like I said before, it's got more features than my regular pod; and the second is that it's not mine. It's yours."

It took Pepper a moment to understand what Tony had just said, but when she finally realized what it meant for her she charged towards him, hugging him in that same manner he always expected of her when he made her happy somehow, forcing him to stand up with the girl clinging on to him.

"Are you serious, Tony? You made this pod for me?"

"For whom else would I make it, Pepper? I even engraved your name on it, see?" The genius pointed out as he placed the ginger's feet back on the floor and showed her the corner where her name was written on. "Do you like it?"

"Of course! I love it, Tony! What kind of dumb question is that?" Pepper jested as she rubbed the pod on her cheek. Her happiness seemed to dissipate as fast as it had hit her, however, and her bright smile was replaced by a frown, making the inventor worry about the sudden change.

"What's wrong, Pep?"

"I, uhm…Tony…I was going to ask you for a favor, but now I'm not sure I should ask for more than what you've already given me," she pointed to the pod."

"A favor, you say? Just tell me, Pepper. What can I do for you?"

"Well, uh…are…are you busy?"

Tony shook his head. "Not at all. What do you need?"

"OK, then…it's just…uhm…you see, my flight is…"

"Come on, Pepper! You're making me worry. What's going on?"

Pepper took in a deep breath to calm her nerves. She was not sure why it was suddenly so difficult telling him what she had come to the armory for. It could not possibly be any different than the many times she had asked him for a favor before, right?

"Tony, before I came here I said my goodbyes to my dad."

"And?" Tony asked, not immediately understanding where the conversation was heading.

"Well, since my plans changed, I came here to see if you could take me to the airport. My bags are outside."

"Oh. How did you get here?"

"Rescue brought me," Pepper gave him a lopsided smile. Before graduation from the Tomorrow Academy, Tony had given Pepper and Rhodey their very own backpack armors. Rhodey had not been thrilled about downgrading his suit so that it would fit in the small backpack, but he did admit that the convenience of having a suit handy was worth the change. "And Rescue can take me to the airport if you don't have the time."

"Of course I have time, Pepper!" Tony responded with a huge smile. "What kind of dumb assumption is that?"

"Thank you, Tony." Pepper hugged him again and Tony returned the embrace with the same effort. They stayed in each other's arms for a while longer until the redhead's watch began beeping. "It's time to go or we won't make it on time."

"Alright. Wait for me outside while I go get the car," the inventor said as he began walking toward the garage.

"OK," said the ginger and headed to the front door of the temple. Before she completely exited the building, she took a moment to give the lab one final look, silently saying goodbye to the place that had become her second home. Everything around them was changing so fast, and even though it was normal for these changes to take place, it did not make them any less painful for her.

"See you later, Iron Man," she whispered before leaving the temple and finding Tony already outside in the car. Her bags were already in the trunk, and all that was needed was for the redhead to get in the car so that they could leave for the airport where she would say goodbye to another piece of her soul, just as she had done so yesterday, and just as before coming to the temple today.

_See you later, Tony Stark. _

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**A/N:** As always, if you liked what you've just read please let me know with a review. I don't anticipate updating this story very often, and the chapters won't be as long as I usually write them, but they will be very sweet. Hail Pepperony!


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The two weeks following the day Pepper had left for California had been extremely stressful for both teens, leaving them with very little time to really talk to one another. Both had been forced to deal with the piles of paperwork, informative sessions, orientation meetings and academic conferences mandated by their respective colleges in the hope of ensuring the new students were ready for the incoming school year.

Keeping up with these compulsory activities required the students to wake up before the sun came up only to return to their dorms when the sun had already set. The only interaction Tony and Pepper had the opportunity to have had been done via text message, which occurred through their pods. After the first week of orientation, the ginger had decided to cancel her primary phone service due to the fact that only her father and Tony would attempt to reach her, and having two cell phones did not make any darn sense to her. Rhodey was not able to use a phone while attending the academy anyway, so the options of people who could make an effort to contact her were very limited. Besides, she reasoned, why not just use the phone her friend had put so much effort in making for her as her primary means of communication?

Many times since Pepper had received her pod she had ran her fingertips over the engraving of her name, especially so when she felt anxious or sad. After spending day and night with her friends for two years, it was very difficult for her to start from scratch in a place so far away from home. The young woman was extremely social by nature and she required the constant company of the people that were important to her. Sadly, even though she had spent many hours speaking with thousands of people in the last two weeks, she was yet to find that special connection that resembled the friendships she had left behind.

Being honest with herself, she truly was not putting that much effort in making friends in college, anyway. She highly doubted that she would find anyone like Rhodey or Tony around here even though the campus was many times the size of the Tomorrow Academy. The redhead had never been lucky in making friends with her same gender since many of the other girls usually found her to be hyperactive, tomboyish, or simply not up-to-par with the expectations of what a lady should act like. Pepper had never been interested in playing with dolls and since an early age she had always preferred to hang around boys rather than girls – despite how smelly boys could be. It was just as simple as the fact that, for her, boys' games were far more interesting than painting your toenails or learning how to walk in high heels.

Pepper – who currently was curled up in her bed and wide awake despite the late hours of the night – stared to her left at the second bed in the room. Her roommate snored loudly without mercy and without concern that the abhorrent sounds she was making while asleep left the redhead cringing in her bed. Pepper made a mental note to add a pair of ear plugs as a necessary item to her grocery shopping list, lest the only remaining option after that would be to willingly become deaf. Truth be told, she did not have anything against her roommate, per se, but Pepper had figured that any person who carried themselves in the same way the blonde did meant they slept with the same grace and wonder of one of those fairy tale princesses Pepper heard about when growing up. Unfortunately for the Rescue alter ego, the tall blonde snored worse than Pepper's uncle when suffering from a cold.

Pepper sighed deeply. She then slid open her pod to look at the history of text messages she had received from Tony ever since he had dropped her off at the airport, two weeks ago. Even though an opportunity to speak over the phone had not yet presented itself, Tony had been mindful of sending at least two text messages a day to the awaiting redhead. One text message came in the mornings to wish her a good day, and the second one came in at night, wishing the girl sweet dreams.

As thoughtful as the gesture was for Pepper, she could not picture herself living like this for the next four years. The possibility that Tony would eventually meet some pretty and smart girl at MIT that would make him forget about his weird and talkative friend made her heart break in two. She did not lie to herself and she was very aware of her feelings for the inventor, but so far there had not been any definite signs that he felt the same way for her. Even though she had resigned herself months ago to just be the scientist's best friend, the hope that there was more to their relationship than the eye could see was difficult to ignore.

Now that the physical distance had grown between them and the feeling of loneliness was slowly killing her, tears had always showed themselves in moments like this when she could not force herself to stop thinking about him and just sleep for a while. Before she had even left the East Coast she had known she was going to miss him, but she had not realized just how much she would do so until now. The only comfort she could find in all of this was that perhaps Tony had anticipated this separation to take a toll on him too, and this was the main reason why he had made her a pod: because he was also going to miss her a whole-fucking-lot.

The feeling of the pod vibrating in her hands surprised her, and she almost dropped the device on her face. Her eyes widened when they landed on the caller ID and she realized Tony was calling her. Without thinking, the redhead jumped off her bed and ran to the bathroom, locked herself inside and sat by the farthest corner of the facility. Her shaky hands then pressed the button to accept the call and she whispered into the receiver to avoid waking up her snoring roommate.

"Tony?"

_"Uh…Pepper?"_ The inventor's tone was one of surprise. _"Why are you…? I mean, I didn't think you were going to be…you know…I was going to leave you a voicemail. Did I wake you?"_

"No," she responded. "I…I was already awake," she whispered back, suddenly feeling extremely nervous about hearing his voice again.

_"Oh, but…it's late, Pep. The pod – it said that it was in silent mode. Are you alright? Did something happen? Why are you up so late?"_

"I can't sleep. You?"

Pepper heard the boy of her dreams sigh deeply. _"Same here. I guess it's the excitement of starting college tomorrow."_

"Whoa! You mean that _you_, Tony Stark, are _nervous _about school?" Pepper could not help but to mock him. "I never thought I'd see the day that school would intimidate you!"

Tony scoffed, his confidence slowly returning to him. _"Of course not, Pepper. In fact, I don't intend to be here more than a couple of years."_

"Two years?" Pepper's eyebrows rose. "Aren't you supposed to be completing a double-major? I know you're a genius and all, but isn't two years for two majors pushing it a bit? Why the hurry, Iron Man?"

_"I don't want to be here longer than what's necessary. I don't like to be away from you,"_ he answered without thinking about his last sentence, and when it finally dawned on him what he had said, he cleared his throat. _"I mean, away from my family, you know?"_

Pepper closed her eyes and a smile illuminated her face. "I get it, Tony. I miss you too."

_"Pepper,"_ he whispered her name with raw emotion, finally giving up on pretending he did not miss her. _"I'm sorry for not giving you a proper goodbye, and for not making time to call you in the last two weeks. I hope you ain't mad at me."_

"Why would I be, Tony? I've been busy too with all these stupid things they made me do here. Besides, I also owe you a proper parting, right?"

The inventor chuckled_. "You don't owe me anything, Pep. But…if you still feel compelled to thank me, I'm not saying no to whatever you may have in mind to make us even."_ The suggestive tone of his response was pouring out of him in waves, and the redhead could almost see a mischievous smile forming on his face.

"You are awful, Stark!"

_"But people still love me that way,"_ he deadpanned_. "That's how you love me, right?"_ He asked with a mocking tone but deep inside he was hopeful that the redhead would see the joke for what it actually was: a lame attempt at wanting reassurance that she still liked him despite his faults. After the kiss and hug they had shared the day they defeated the Makluan army, neither of the teens had dared starting a conversation about the possible meaning of these two gestures in their relationship, and these pathetic implicit clues were all he had for now.

"It depends on the day of the week," she responded.

_"How about today?"_

"Maybe. Could be. I'm not sure. I'll tell you tomorrow."

_"You are so mean, Pepper!" _He groaned.

"But people still love me that way," she repeated his words. "That's how you love me, right?"

Tony was speechless for a moment, debating on whether to tell her here and now how he felt about her. However, the separation that they were currently experiencing was already difficult enough in terms of just being friends. The last thing he wanted for his redhead was to make matters worse by pushing her to have a long-distance relationship with him when she was not ready for it.

_"Yes, Pepper,"_ he finally answered. _"That's how I love you, regardless of the day of the week," _he added as an afterthought, convinced that even though it was not best to tell her how he felt for her right this very moment, it did not mean he could not let her know in more subtle ways that there was something else there other than just plain friendship – just in case she wanted to take the plunge.

It was now Pepper's turn to become speechless. She took in a deep breath and bit her bottom lip to keep herself from screaming in happiness. "Tony…I…you…"

_"Yes?"_

"Uhm…what…what did you call about?" She finally asked after losing her nerve with the life-changing conversation, or at least for now.

_"I was just going to wish you good luck for tomorrow, and I was going to tell you that I'd call you as soon as I could."_

"Oh, well, in that case, I oughta send you a copy of my class schedule. Just in case there's an emergency and you need to find me."

_"It couldn't hurt,"_ he agreed_. "I'll send you mine, too; just in case you need me."_

"Sounds like a plan," she stated before a yawn escaped her lips. "Sorry, I think sleep is finally catching up with me. Talk to you later?"

_ "Of course, Pepper. Sweet dreams."_

"You, too, Tony. And don't forget about your friend who now lives in California and is unable to finish school as quickly as you can."

_"Forget about you? Never, Pepper."_

"You promise?

_"I swear."_

"Alright, then. Rest well. 'night."

_"Goodnight,"_ he said and remained on the line. The redhead did the same but when she felt a sudden wave of sleep overcoming her, she ended the call. When the inventor heard the sound of the call disconnecting, he sighed in disappointment. Finally, after removing the phone from his ear, he stared down at the picture of Pepper he had put as the wallpaper on his phone, mumbling to himself the words he had not been able to speak aloud.

"I love you, Pepper."

And with this phrase in mind Tony went to sleep, hoping to see his redhead in his dreams.

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**A/N:** Just like _SilverPedals1402_ said: this fic is SUPER DUPER cute ;) Thanks for the feedback, ya'll!


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Hey, Tony!" Richard, one of Tony's three roommates said on his way to the exit of the dorm. "Are you sure you don't want to come to the grand opening? You should totally come with AND bring Iron Man with you. All the girls are going to throw themselves at you, and you can give me the ones you don't like. What do you say, huh?"

The news that Tony Stark was now attending MIT had spread like a wildfire. The poor young man had been attending classes for only one week and he had already been asked to sign countless autographs, posed for thousands of pictures and had been invited to join any and all of student associations and clubs on campus. And, if that was not enough, when the rumor had spread that he was enrolled in twelve courses – and the details of what classes they were, the registration office had been forced to cancel all adding and dropping options for the twelve classes when scores of willing girls had demanded to be added to any of them. Most girls did not even meet the requirements for enrolling in any of the courses Tony was taking, but that fact had not stopped any of them from trying to get a transfer completed.

"No, Rick, but thanks. I've got a major project to turn in on Monday, and I'd like to finish it before the weekend ends." Tony responded without even staring at his roommate, his eyes glued on the boot sequence of his laptop.

"What a drag, Stark! Aren't you supposed to be a billionaire? Owner of your own company? What the hell do you even need school for? You oughta party more like me, Lewis and Ray. You really aren't taking advantage of your fame and fortune, man!"

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Tony answered, still not looking at his roommate and typing like mad on his laptop. "I'll buy the groceries this weekend."

Richard shook his head and smiled. One thing that all three roommates of the genius had learned rather quickly of Tony was that when he was busy with his studies he did not pay attention to anything else. If someone happened to talk to him when he was in the middle of a project or homework assignment, one of two things would surely happen: 1) Tony would completely ignore the person; or, 2) He would say something that had nothing to do with the topic at hand.

Just as it was the case at the moment.

"Don't study too hard, Stark. You're gonna fry your brains."

"Thanks, man! I'll let Ray know that you're coming back late, and this time I won't forget to buy the kidney beans."

Richard could not contain his laughter and walked out of the dorm, locking the door behind him. As he jogged down the hall he had the sudden realization that it was stupid to lock his dorm when Tony Stark was inside. What kind of idiot would dare to rob them when Iron Man was right there?

_Yup. Only an idiot, that's right._

Inside the room, Tony continued working nonstop for a couple more hours and when he finally finished, he sighed in relief. He had been counting down the days for the weekend to arrive, and in between classes he had worked without rest to make sure his weekend was errand free. It had not been easy to do so while having to deal with other unexpected interruptions, but he had somehow managed to accomplish his objective: he now had all weekend to spend with Pepper at her college.

Truth was he could not wait to see her again. It had soon become painfully obvious to him that merely texting her every now and then, and staring at her picture in his pod was not enough for him. Even the short conversation they had the day before school started had left him wanting more; more time with her, and more of her. The distance was killing him, and the more those random girls _accidentally_ fell on his lap or arms this week, the more he craved the redhead's warmth on him.

He quickly picked up his school supplies and his devices from the table and took them to his room. The dorm he had been assigned to live in was no different than the ones the other students used. The campus had different options for living on the premises, and the one Tony had ended up in was the most common one around. The apartment-like dorm had four rooms – one at every corner, and a common room in the middle of the apartment. Each room had its own bathroom inside, and the common room had enough space to fit a couch, a television, and a small dining table. There was also a small kitchen in the back of the common room filled with only the essentials. All these amenities were more than enough for Tony since he had made his home out of an abandoned temple back in Jersey.

The only thing he was missing was the presence of his friends, particularly his spunky friend.

He hurried up and packed his bags, filling them with enough change of clothes to last him for the weekend. He then dialed Pepper's number and waited patiently to give her the good news about his planned visit to her.

_"My roommate is the best!"_ Pepper said immediately after answering the call as if they had already been talking for a while. _"It's the first time a girl likes me this much! I just can't believe it!"_

Tony smiled at hearing her so happy after how down she had sounded last time they had spoken over the phone. "What? Did you already forget about me, Pepper? That was quick."

The ginger laughed aloud, picking up on the obvious joking tone of the inventor. _"Of course not, Tony! You're my best friend for ever and ever."_

_Friend_, he thought bitterly, knowing damn well that he wanted to be more than just her friend. "I take it that she hasn't heard you talk and talk, huh?"

Pepper scoffed. _"I'll have you know that she has heard me talk and talk nonstop, and she actually thinks its endearing."_

"She's not the only one who thinks so, Pep." He informed her, this time without hesitation in his voice before he began bringing up the reason why he had called her in the first place. "Anyway, what are you doing now?"

_"I'm getting my bags ready,"_ she answered and Tony's heart almost stopped beating.

"Bags? Where are you going?"

_"My first major project for my forensic science class is to go with the rest of the group to analyze a fake crime scene in a state park. We're all taking a bus from here and spending the weekend there. What a way to spend my first weekend of school, right?"_

Tony's happiness shattered at hearing her plans, and for the second time he cursed at whoever or whatever felt like messing with his ideas about spending time with the redhead. He slowly sat on the edge of the bed next to the now useless luggage and swallowed the lump in his throat. "You said it, Pep. Just do me a favor and don't arrest anyone while you're there, alright?" He said, trying not to sound as disappointed as he felt.

_"When have I ever arrested anyone?"_ she chuckled. _"I think you've got me confused with another Pepper."_

"Of course I am!" He followed along. "I'm such an idiot. When are you coming back, anyway?"

_"Sunday afternoon. What about you, Mr. Genius? What are you doing this weekend?"_

Tony's saddened eyes landed on his bag. "Miss you," he answered without thinking. Yet, once he replayed in his head what he had just said, he did not try to deny it this time around. Instead, he allowed the redhead to take a moment to take in his words, and let her decide what his honesty meant for her. The silence on the other end of the line lasted a little bit longer than expected and when Tony was about to give up, Pepper spoke again.

"_I want to see you, Tony."_

The inventor closed his eyes and hunched his back. His left hand kept the phone in place, and his right hand held the weight of his head while it rested on his knee. "I want to see you too, Pepper."

_"If, for any reason…if you have time next weekend…could we…"_

"Yes," he answered. "I'll be there."

"_And I'll be waiting for you."_

"Be careful, Pepper. And, if you need me…"

"_I'll call you."_

"And if you don't need me…"

"_I'll call you, too,"_ she said with a smile. _"You be careful too, Tony. Don't let the voluptuous blondes take advantage of you."_

"Blondes?" he began. "I much prefer redheads."

_"We redheads also take advantage of you."_

"I surely hope so," he said, feeling a little bit better now. "I'll see you later, Pepper."

_ "Later, Tony."_

This time he was the first one to hang up but only because by the time the conversation was over an idea came to him; an idea that he knew would put a smile on the ginger's face.

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**A/N: **Do you tumbl? I do now! Follow my blog at missstarfire in tumblr. BTW, the fact that one of Tony's roommates' names is the same as the transsexual one in_ Broken_ was a complete coincidence :P


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The redhead was sitting under a tree, patiently waiting for the forensic science professor to let them know it was time to leave the state park she had spent her weekend in. Even though at first it had been somewhat exciting to hang around her roommate and classmates, as well as with FBI agents, crime scene clean up officers and others, last night her happiness had been shattered before her very eyes and in an unexpected way.

It had all begun like any other conversation. The class had taken advantage of being in the woods and started a fire and roasted marshmallows over it. Each student had taken their turn to share their life's story with everyone, particularly explaining the reason why they had chosen to come to Berkeley. Pepper had been thrilled at hearing everyone's tales and when her turn had come around, she had been more than honest with everyone with the small exception of bringing up her involvement with Team Iron Man. Since Rescue had only been seen in action once, no one had yet associated her with the hero, and at this point she figured it was better this way. Now that she thought about it more, however, she would have preferred talking about Rescue's single mission rather than letting everyone know what had brought her to California.

_Me and big mouth._ Pepper sighed as she remembered with sadness how her life was now going to be hell in her own dorm, and all due to some stupid thing. She still had a few minutes left before she was to get on the bus to go back to Berkeley, and even though she did not want to worry him with her pathetic story, she could not stop thinking about calling the blue-eyed boy.

_He told me to call him for anything_, she reminded herself. _If I don't call him now, who knows when I can call him again? Screw it! I've got to talk to someone about this!_

Casting her doubts aside, Pepper pressed speed-dial one and waited. After only two rings Tony answered, making her sigh in both relief and desperation.

"_Hey, babe! Missed me?"_ The scientist asked in a teasing tone that also reeked of happiness.

"Tony!" her voice nearly cracked at hearing him. "My roommate is a minion of the devil himself!"

The inventor did not miss the fact that the redhead was trying to hold back a sob, and he became worried_. "Pepper, what's happening? Are you alright?"_

"No, Tony. I'm NOT alright! I knew it was too good to be true that Sandra accepted me the way I am. She was only pretending and now I know why she did it, the phony!

_"I'm lost, Pepper. Take a deep breath, calm down and tell me what happened."_

"OK, yes…alright," the redhead agreed and did as told. "It all began last night when we were exchanging stories about how we ended up in Berkeley. Everything was going fine until I happened to mention that I'm here on a scholarship and as soon as I said that, Sandra got mad at me. And, to top it off, she called me a liar in front of everyone! _Everyone_, Tony!"

_"Scholarship? What scholarship? And, she got mad at you? Called you a liar? Why Pepper? I don't get it."_

"What do you mean 'what scholarship'? The only one that responded to me from the millions I sent. Remember?"

_"Oh, yeah, now I remember,"_ the scientist said. _"But what does that have to do with anything?"_

"That's the stupid part about the whole thing. Turns out that Sandra comes from a very wealthy family and she thought that was the case with me, too. When she heard that my dad is – and I quote: _a pathetic government employee, _and that she was sharing her room with a 'commoner,' she went nuts!"

"'_Commoner'?"_

"Yup, Pepper 'The Commoner' Potts. That's what everyone's calling me now."

"_What kind of dumbass thinking is that? Why did she call you a liar?"_

"Because she says I lied to her by not telling her that I wasn't in the same _social status_ as she is. And, that if she had known ahead of time that we were not _the same_, she would've requested a transfer to another dorm when she had the chance to do so."

"_Social status? What the hell? Who does she think she is? What is the matter with this girl? Does she think she lives in…ugh_!" The inventor gave up in trying to relay his anger to the redhead as the right words refused to come out._ "I'm sorry, Pepper. I really am. You don't deserve that. What can I do for you?"_

"Nothing, Tony," she answered with a sigh, rubbing her forehead in frustration with her right hand. "I don't expect anything else from you other than just coming to see me next weekend, and to please, please, PLEASE not start calling me 'commoner."

"_Why would you think I would, Pep? Not all rich kids are like that, you know?"_

"But most of them_ are_ like that: Whitney, Gene, Justin Hammer… What's stopping you from realizing that … and then…"

"_OK, OK, granted. Most of us __are__ like that, but you know that I'm not like them. I don't care about stupid shit like that. You know that, right? You know that I wouldn't treat you like that."_

The redhead sighed and stood up from the ground, patting her clothes free of dirt and leaves. "I know, Tony, but you're not the one who is here; it's that crazy girl. She's the one that is going to make my life miserable, and if it wasn't for the fact that they don't have the same last name, I could've sworn Sandra is related to Whitney Stane."

Tony nodded even though Pepper could not see him. _"I know, Pep. But it will only be for a moment. I doubt she has the time or the energy to continue annoying you forever. Besides, you'll both soon be so very busy with your classes that you'll hardly ever see her, anyway."_

"We're going for the same major, Tony," she said with a resigned tone.

"_Oh," _he frowned._ "When can you switch dorms?"_

"Next year, in August."

"_Right…uhm…well…in that case…uh…"_

"Hey, commoner!" The ginger heard a voice nearby and she eyed Sandra from the corner of her eye. "The instructor wanted me to come find you. We're leaving now, so hurry the hell up before we live you here in your natural habitat, you _riffraff_."

Without another word, the blonde turned around in place and began walking to the bus, leaving Pepper standing there, mouth agape, almost forgetting that Tony was still on the other end of the line. The inventor's jaw clenched at hearing the other girl abuse his friend, but he decided that Pepper was already mad enough for the both of them. _"Forget about her; she's probably pissed because the humidity is messing up her stupid hair. Pepper? Hey, Pepper, are you there?"_

The redhead swallowed the pain in her chest, blinked her tears away and began walking to the bus herself. "Yes, Tony. I'm here, but I have to go."

"_Alright. Call me when you get to Berkeley."_

"I will, but it might be a while; it's a four hour drive. Wouldn't you be busy by then?"

"_I only have to run a few errands, but I'll be done by then."_

"Don't rush on my account. I don't want you to crash or something."

"_I'm not driving,"_ he promised. _"It's all here on campus; returning some books to the library, stuff like that."_

"Are you sure?"

"_Positive. Call me, OK?"_

"Alright. Bye, Tony"

"_Bye, Pep."_

xxxXXXxxx

As soon as she set foot on campus, Pepper had busied herself cleaning up her side of the room, doing laundry, getting her books ready for the next day, and showering. When she had finally finished doing chores and had stepped out of the bathroom, already in pajamas and all, she had realized that her room had been invaded by unwanted guests. Sandra, in her moment of _grief_, had called on reinforcements, and ten girls had taken over their already small dorm room. The _reinforcements_ were girls Pepper already knew from orientation, and it was painful to see the way they had all stared at her; as if she had betrayed every single one of them, too. The ginger had not even tried to reason with any of them and had opted to leave her room.

That unwelcomed surprised had Pepper currently walking aimlessly in the building, barefoot, in her pajamas, and hair still wet from the shower. She was aware that it had been more than four hours since she had told Tony she would call him, but she refused to do so from a random hall. She wanted some privacy to have their conversation, and thanks to her roommate, her dorm room was the last place she wanted to be in. In any case, she was second guessing herself regarding even making the call. She knew Tony would ask about what had happened with the girl, and she did not want to give him any more reasons to worry.

_Ugh, and this is just the first week. You have the worst, luck, Pepper._ She thought to herself. _All that is missing is going back to my room and finding my stuff gone._

Knowing that making the call inside the building was going to give her no privacy at all, she decided to take the emergency stairs and went up to the roof. She had been there only a couple of times when she had first move in, and she knew for a fact that hardly anyone went up there, especially at night, making it the perfect place to be by herself. She dialed Tony's number and waited for him to answer the call.

_"Hey, Pepper! I thought you weren't going to call me again!"_

"Yeah, sorry about that," she said in a soft tone. "I just wanted to make sure I left everything ready for tomorrow." Pepper walked over to the edge of the building and looked down, confirming that everyone was already tucked in for the night. She then carefully perched herself on the ledge so that her feet dangled off the side of the building while she sat on the brick fence of the roof. Even though it was a five-story fall, Pepper felt extremely comfortable with heights; it was one of the main reasons why she loved being Rescue, and flying in Iron Man's arms.

"_I see. Do you have time to talk now?"_

"Just for a short while. It's been a tiring day and I'd like to go to bed early, if you don't mind."

"_How early? Are you already in bed?"_

"Before ten," she responded, remembering that when she had left her room it had already been past eight. "I'm not in my room right now. I'm on the roof."

_"The roof? What are you doing there? Don't tell me the witch kicked you out!"_

"Of course not, don't be silly. I just wanted some privacy and some fresh air."

_ "OK. Well, not counting the made up stories of the rich girl, did you enjoy your weekend?_

"I did, actually," Pepper said as she placed the Bluetooth headset in her right ear. "I learned a lot. I mean, some things I obviously already knew from my dad, but I did have fun."

_"I'm glad, Pepper."_

"Oh! And thanks for the pod's games. They are so much fun," she said to him while she put away her pod in her pajama shorts' pockets and held on to the ledge of the building with both hands, and Tony chuckled at her.

_"Did you really think I wouldn't put games in your pod, Potts? What kind of inventor do you think I am? Stark Solutions makes only the best."_

"No doubt about it. Although, is there a chance you can make me some super-duper, high-tech ear plugs? Princess snores worse than you."

_ "What? I don't snore!"_

"Sure you do."

_"When have you ever heard me snore, Pepper?"_

"When have I not? How about every time I would walk into your lab and you'd fallen asleep on your work table?"

_ "I haven't got the slightest."_

Pepper laughed aloud. "I'm sure the camera feed of the temple will have evidence of the contrary."

_ "Not if someone, say, edited some of the footage right about now."_

"You're pathetic, Stark!" Pepper said in between giggles. "You don't snore as bad as she does, but you do snore."

_"I'm not really liking this conversation. Why don't we change the topic, huh?"_

"Oh, alright," she rolled her eyes. "What do you want to talk about?

_"You. How about we talk about you?"_ he answered with a serious tone. _"About how much I miss you."_

The ginger smiled sadly, looked down at the ground and her heart began to beat rapidly. "I miss you too, Tony; now more than ever." She breathed hard. "I feel so lonely. And I know that you're probably right about Sandra not annoying me forever, but that's not how I expected my life to start here."

_"I know what you mean. I didn't imagine being here by myself, without you, without Rhodey. I never stopped to think what it meant to go to separate schools, and I regret not spending more time with you. I wish there was something else I could do for you, but there's only one thing I can do for now to cheer you up."_

"What do you mean Tony?" the girl asked but the inventor did not immediately respond. "Tony?" she tapped the earpiece with her fingertips, but still there was no noise on the other end of the line.

"Tony, can you hear me?" Pepper stood up from the edge of the building and returned her feet to the roof, covering her right ear with her palm to listen carefully for any sign that Tony was still on the call. "Tony, are you there?"

"Yes, Pepper. I'm here," he responded to her from his position behind her on the roof.

* * *

**A/N:** *FEELS* I know you guys are happy that the chapters are being translated so quickly, but I am afraid I only have 3 more chapters after this to translate and then it will slow down. The chapters are short, though, so I may have a new one up for both versions sometime this weekend. Enjoy!


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Pepper's hand flew to cover her mouth to hold back the gasp of surprise that hit her. Slowly, she turned around in place to see her blue-eyed boy staring back at her. He was grinning sheepishly, gave her a one-sided shrug and looked down, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by being in her presence. Pepper took two shorts steps toward him before taking on a full sprint and threw herself onto his chest. Tony's balance was compromised for a second but he quickly recovered his footing before embracing the redhead's waist while Pepper surrounded his shoulders with her arms.

Tony grunted slightly when he felt the air being knocked out of him with the force of the hug, but he put himself together almost immediately, returning the embrace as fervently as the ginger. Tony's left arm remained around her waist. His right arm slid up her upper back to surround her shoulders and the fingers on his right hand played with her hair and massaged her neck, causing the redhead to instantly melt in his touch.

"If I'd known long ago that disappearing for weeks was the sure way to be treated like this, I'd have done it way before," he jested.

"Don't say that, Tony," she whispered in his ear without realizing the shiver her voice provoked in the inventor. "You've got no idea how bad it's been around here."

Tony smiled but decided against saying anything else that would ruin the moment. They held each other for a while – just as they had done so many times before – until the boy realized that the redhead was shivering. "Dammit, Pepper!" he suddenly spat. "You're going to catch a cold!"

"I don't care," she deadpanned. "I'm better off here freezing to death than down in my dorm where those witches are staring at me with pity."

"_Witches_, plural? When did they multiply? And, didn't you say you were here because you were looking for fresh air. What's really going on?"

The girl bit her tongue, reminding herself that she was not supposed to say anything else to piss off the inventor. It was not fair that Tony had flown from Massachusetts to California only to hear her rant.

_It's just so hard, _she thought.

When the ginger kept her mouth shut, Tony forced her to pull away from him. Pepper did not dare to look at him in the eye, and stared down at her feet. Tony rolled his eyes and shook his head at her before he picked her up in his arms, surprising the heck out of the redhead for the second time that night. "What the heck are you doing?"

"We're going to sit inside," he responded, leaving no room for argument. A moment later, the two teens found themselves inside the small roof access room, sitting languidly on the floor. "Better?"

Pepper was glad that very little light filtered through since she could feel how red her face was. The scientist was sitting with his back against the wall of the room, and in between his bent legs he had placed the redhead. She was then pressed closer to him, her back against his chest and his chin on her left shoulder. Her head ended up caught between his shoulder and his neck, and she was certain that any point her heart would just explode.

"You're cold, Pepper," he whispered to her and covered her body with any part of his that he could. "You better not get sick on me. What were you thinking going out in a cold night like this in such a skimpy outfit?"

"I didn't plan to be out that long."

He shook his head in disapproval. "You aren't even wearing any socks or shoes!" he chided her and she rolled her eyes at him even though he could not see them.

"I'm happy that you came to see me, Tony, but are you going to spend the entire time scolding me?"

"If that's what it takes for you to take care of yourself…"

"Tony…"

"Fine," he relented and hugged her even tighter. "No more scolding. I'm sorry."

"I forgive you," she said and closed her eyes, immediately relaxing in his arms. She could tell that Tony was also lost in the moment when she felt his muscles relax under her, and she completely lost track of time and space when the smell of his cologne hit her nostrils. They basked in the other's company for a few minutes, the only sounds coming from them were their breathing and the random sigh of contentment from both of them.

After another long moment in which neither of them spoke, Tony figured the redhead had fallen asleep. However, when he was getting ready to pick her up from the floor to take her to her room and she held onto him to stop him, he knew she was as wide awake as he was. "No," she began. "It's too soon. Don't go, yet."

"I don't want to go, believe me," he whispered back. "But it's past ten, Pep."

"My first class isn't until noon."

"I know, but you said you wanted to go to bed early."

"I only did because you weren't here, and because I didn't want you to find out I have nowhere to sleep tonight." She said in a rush, trying to convince him to stay, but she soon realized she had said more than she should have.

"What? Did you forget your key?"

"Not at all. In fact, I rigged my pod so that I can use it to open the door to the room in case I did misplace my key."

"So, why can't you go back there, tonight?"

"Never mind. Forget I even said anything; it's not important."

"It's important to me. And if you don't tell me why you can't go back to your dorm, I'll walk myself down there and ask your roommate."

"Tony, please, let it go."

"No. I didn't come all the way over here for you to lie to me, Pepper. Don't you trust me?"

"It's not that."

"Then what is it?" he asked her with atone the redhead recognized as one that warned anyone around him that he was running out of patience. Pepper sighed in resignation and turned around in place so that she was now facing Tony while still being in between his legs. She balanced herself by placing her hands on his shoulders, and the inventor changed the position of his hands so that they rested on his bent knees.

"I'm not sure about it yet, but Sandra brought over her friends and I think they might be staying the night there. When I left the dorm there were ten girls there, plus her. If they're planning on staying there, then they are totally going to use my bed for it."

"Can't you just kick them out? Where is the resident assistant, anyway? I'm sure what she's doing is against the handbook."

"And what if it is? She's bought everyone since she got here. No one is going to tell her anything."

"I can buy people, too, Pepper. And I'm sure as hell she can't match my price."

"Probably not, but this is not your problem, Stark. You shouldn't even be here in the first place or me here with you. If the RA finds out that we're here, I'll probably be expelled from the dorms."

Tony's look changed to one of serious consideration, the same type of look that he had when he was coming up with a plan the redhead knew she was not going to like at all. "They'd kick you out of the dorms, but not the school, right?"

"I don't think so, no."

"And, you say that you can't swap dorms until next year, right?"

"Officially, no."

"Have you read the student handbook, by any chance? What would cause someone to be kicked out of the dorms but not the college, you know, hypothetically speaking?"

Pepper's eyes widened in shock and she grabbed Tony by the lapels of his shirt. "Tony Stark, if you think I'm going to tinge my student record by drinking, smoking, getting high or sleeping with a random guy so that I don't have to share a room with the witch, you are CRAZY!"

Tony's hands fell on hers to caress them slowly, trying his best to calm her down. "Chill, Pep. I didn't say it had to be a random guy. It'd be me, babe!" he winked at her, causing the ginger to blush madly again, this time enough for the inventor to be able to tell even in the dark.

"What…what's the matter with you? Have-have…have you lost your mind?"

Tony threw his head back, laughing shamelessly, his hands still on hers. He then kissed her knuckles tenderly with a smile he was barely able to contain. "I'm just joking, Pepper. Of course it wouldn't be _you_ who gets in trouble, but the witch."

The ginger observed the inventor continue pressing her hands to his lips, his eyes staring directly at hers. Of all the ways Tony had ever shown her a kind gesture to her, this was the first time he had ever done something like this. She could not help to think back to the kiss he had given her that day they kicked the Makluan's butts, and the more she thought about the subtle changes in their interactions, the more she wanted to think there was definitely something more than just friendship growing between them, even if it was just implied.

"And how exactly do you plan to make her do those stupidities?" She slid her hands from him and rested them on his shoulders again, kneeling in front of him. He responded by taking his hands to her lower back, helping her maintain her balance between his legs. "She's mean, not dumb."

"She doesn't have to do anything, really," he shrugged. "It's just needs to _look _like she did."

"I'm not sure, Tony. It wouldn't be fair to her."

"Fair? It is fair that you have to sleep in the streets because of her airheadedness?"

"Don't exaggerate! I wouldn't sleep in the street."

"The hallway doesn't count, Pepper."

"I didn't mean the…"

"Neither does the roof," he said, anticipating her answer. "How do you think I'll be able to rest comfortably in my dorm knowing you have nowhere to stay?"

"I shouldn't have said anything," she said between clenched teeth.

"I'd have found out anyway," he pointed out as he took out his pod from his pants pocket. "The pod told me you weren't in your room, and while I have it, and you have yours, I'll know the moment you aren't in a safe place."

Pepper glared at him knowing that he was right, and the moment he became distracted by his silent gloating she snatched the phone from his hands. She then stood up in flash, ran toward the door and out back onto the roof, his pod in her hands. The cold air hitting her again was not enough to stop her dexterous fingers from trying to unlock his pod so that she could break the link between it and hers, which would buy her a couple of days to find a way to solve her problem. It would not take long for Tony to reconnect the devices, but she would take whatever time she could have.

"Pepper!" he chased after her. "What are you doing to my phone? Give it back!"

"Nothing! Don't be greedy, Tony!" she responded to him before she was finally able to unlock it only to freeze where she stood.

"Gotcha!" he stated and hugged her from behind, but the redhead did not even attempt to free herself from his grip. Tony then stared down over her shoulder at the pod in her hand and it was then he realized why she was shocked speechless.

"Tony?" she gulped as she turned around to stare at Tony who was now releasing her and taking a few steps back away from her. "Why do you have a picture of me as your wallpaper?"

Tony's mouth hung, unable to think of a quick reply to her question. He mentally slapped himself for forgetting that small detail of his pod when she had taken it from him. He then rubbed the back of his neck and stared at the ground. "Uhm, well…you see…Pepper…it's like this…I….uh…"

Tony," she pleaded. "Please tell me the truth."

"The truth?" he repeated. "The truth is that you…and I…well, we…" he swallowed hard. Flirting with her, telling her he missed her, and even kissing her hands was one thing. Telling her straight to her face what he felt was an entirely different one. Pepper began walking toward him, and with every step she took, it became harder for them to breath.

"Tony, please answer me."

"Pepper…I…" he sighed deeply to take in some courage before he looked up to stare at her. "I like you, Pepper." He finally said. "I mean, I really, _really _like you; have for some time now, but I hadn't had the guts to tell you."

The ginger blinked several times and her eyes landed on the picture of her that Tony had chosen to use as his pod's wallpaper. She then returned her gaze to him with a look he could not immediately decipher until he felt her lips pressing against his.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The cold wind that had overwhelmed her just a few moments ago no longer fazed her. The only thing she could feel now was the feeling of his arms around hers, and his unrestrained and soft lips on hers. Although he had not immediately responded to her kiss, he had soon recovered his senses only to lose them once more when he realized he was kissing his favorite redhead. Pepper's arms clung to his neck with a desperation she was not aware she had, her fingers entwined in his hair, pulling him closer to her face.

At some point during the exchange her feet had completely abandoned the ground in favor of merging her body even closer to his. With the strength of Extremis in him, the weight of the redhead was insignificant and as such he was able to press her tightly against his sturdy chest. Their hearts beat a thousand times per second, and in a flash they forgot what was happening around him, preferring to only concentrate on the thought that it appeared that they had both wanted this encounter as much as the other had.

"Pepper," he whispered almost breathlessly when he had to stop for air. "You've got no idea what this means to me. I didn't want to lose you as my friend, but I'd be lying if I said I don't want something more. Please tell you me want it, too."

"Haven't my actions already told you so?" she smiled at him. "I also didn't want to lose what we have, but I'd also be lying if I said I didn't like you as more than just my friend."

Tony smiled back at her and kissed her again as long as his lungs allowed him to. His right hand slid up to her neck and his thumb caressed her cheek. His left hand rested on her lower back, keeping her in place in the air. When again they had to part for air he finally let her down gently onto the ground, but only for a brief moment before he carried her in his arms and took her back inside the small roof access room.

Once inside, Pepper took the initiative and returned them both to their previous position on the floor with the only difference that this time she sat on his lap. In her life she never pictured herself being so forward with any guy, especially with Tony, but after seeing how much feeling he was putting into this moment, she thought it would only be fair to reward him with some affection herself.

It was clear as day to Pepper that he still somewhat doubted that she had some interest in him, and she could not fathom the reason why he would have these kinds of qualms. Did he not know who he was to her? Was it not obvious that even a blind girl would wonder, even if for just a brief moment, of a way to try to get Tony Stark to like her? From all the emotions she had ever seen on him, the fear of being rejected by a girl was one she did not think could exist in him.

He had always displayed his overconfidence on his handsome physique and he knew very well that most girls followed him around as if he was the last man on Earth. However, the Tony Stark that was lying underneath her was not the one that would easily wink at a girl to get what he wanted. The Tony Stark that was with her at the moment was not the same one that would have no reservations in using his charming smile to gather information from his fans. The Tony Stark that was presently staring at her with concerned eyes and shaky hands on her hips was one that she had never seen before until now.

"What's the matter, Tony? Does it bother you that I'm sitting on you?"

"No," he answered with the same sweet tone he had uttered her name before. "It's just that…" he trailed.

"Just what?" she asked, suddenly feeling that she was probably making him uncomfortable with her boldness.

"You're so beautiful, Pepper," he finally said, casting all other thoughts aside. "I can't believe you didn't push me off the roof when you had the chance."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "You say the darnedest things, Tony."

"I'm serious, Pep," he informed her with a sincere tone that reflected on his face. "You have no idea how scared I was that you were going to hit me in the face with my pod when I told you I liked you."

"Liked? Past tense?"

"Like. Present tense. Now. This very moment. And tomorrow, too."

Pepper chuckled. "What made you think I'd get mad at you, anyway?"

"Isn't it obvious? It's you, Pepper!"

"What?" She frowned. "As in it's me and I'm violent or something?" she said angrily and already trying to get up from his lap but Tony stopped her.

"Don't put words in my mouth, Pepper. That's not what I said."

"What would you rather I put in your mouth? My fist?" she asked as she shook her closed hand in his face.

"Not really. But your lips I wouldn't mind," he replied before he kissed her again. She tried prying herself off him, but once she realized she was not going to kid herself and pretend she did not want it, she kissed back. This kiss was not as long or demanding as the ones before it, but it still made her feel butterflies in her stomach. Once they pulled back again, Tony gave her a lopsided smile and brushed her bangs off her face.

"Are you going to let me explain why I was afraid to tell you I like you?" He asked and she nodded. "Alright. And let me finish before you get mad at me again, OK?"

She nodded again.

"Great. The reason why I was afraid to tell you anything was because you're not like the other girls I know. You're the only one that hasn't thrown herself on the floor so that I could walk all over you just because my last name is Stark. You're the only one that doesn't seem me as a walking blank check, and I thought that maybe you didn't act that way because you didn't like me as more than just your friend who took one too many bathroom breaks during school, at all times. I was afraid that due to the fact you'll always be in danger for being associated with Iron Man it would eventually make you think twice about being with me at all, and that you would call me an idiot for falling in love with you. It's already hard as it is, and I'm just complicating things for us both."

The inventor cupped Pepper's head in his hands and continued his explanation when he made sure she was still listening to him. "I'm not stupid, Pepper. I know that being with me screws up your life, and I also know that if you were to become my girlfriend, it would only get that much worse. But I can't imagine growing old without even knowing that we gave it a chance. I know I can make you happy, if you let me. And if I can't then you can push me off this roof or any other tall structure of your liking."

The last bit made Pepper giggle even though it was not meant as a joke. The reality was that Tony was practically pleading for her to accept him with his myriad of defects. She knew he sometimes acted as the greatest jerk on the planet. He was self-centered to a fault, and he could be very irresponsible at times, but that had never bothered her enough to walk away from him. The fact that Tony had been expecting a rejection from her made her heart swell in pain, and it was now that she realized why he had looked terrified when he had told her how he felt.

"Are you really in love with me, Tony?"

"Haven't my actions already told you so?"

"You told me you liked me. The fact that you like someone doesn't mean you are in love with them; they are not the same thing. Being in love with someone entails…"

"That I love you," he interrupted her, eyes glued to hers. "Being in love with you means that I love you."

Pepper's eyes filled with tears. From all the ways she had ever dreamed of hearing those words from him, this was the best one yet. It was_ almost_ perfect; the reality that he would eventually fly back to his side of the country placed a small stain on the moment, however.

"I love you too, Tony," she admitted, the tears now running down her face. The smile she was accustomed to seeing on him finally appeared. They exchanged a quick kiss if only to make sure everything around them was real before Tony spoke again.

"Does that mean that you're going to give me a chance?"

"I'd have to be crazy not to give you, Tony Stark, a chance," she winked at him and Tony's smile turned into a chuckle.

"Crazy? I think 'insane beyond all help like your bitch of a roommate,' would be a better description."

The moment she was reminded about her predicament, her smile dissipated and Tony groaned. "Oh, crap!" Tony banged his head against the wall. "I'm sorry, Pep. I forgot. I wasn't thinking…this…this doesn't count as my chance, right?"

Even though the question was not meant to make her smile, the ginger began laughing aloud and the inventor sighed in relief. She then shook her head at him and hugged him. "No, but this is something I have to solve on my own. I'll find a way out, I know it."

"And if whatever you have in mind doesn't work out, just tell me. I'm not letting anyone abuse you like that."

"Why not? Because I'm Iron Man's girlfriend?"

"No," he said as he pushed both of them up from the floor. "Because you deserve to be treated with respect, Pepper. I don't give a damn if she turns out to be the US's, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s, or the freakin' United Nations' President's daughter. If she pulls another stunt like that on you she's going to meet the real angry Tony Stark."

The look of seriousness on his face scared Pepper, but not because she was afraid of him, but of what he would do to defend those he cared about. "It won't be necessary, Tony. I'll deal with her."

"I hope so," he responded with a sigh, but Pepper knew that until he saw it with his own blue eyes that Sandra was no longer a problem, there was always a chance that Tony would do something they would both later regret.

"So," she began in an attempt to change the topic. "Are you still going to be able to come see me this weekend? Or should I plan to go see you, instead?"

"Of course, Pepper," he answered and led her out the room by the hand. The moment he was out on the roof his armor covered him completely save for his face. He then turned around and kissed the ginger once more before running his armored hand down her face. "You do know I don't want to go, right?"

"As much as you know I want you to stay."

"Sounds about the right amount of knowing," he answered. "Miss me, alright. Oh, and dream about me, too."

"Anything else?" she joked. "And you change that ugly picture of me in your pod," she said and handed back the device to him.

"But I like this one," he stared at it fondly knowing this picture was the reason why he had arrived as her friend and was leaving as her boyfriend. "What's wrong with it?"

"Where do you want me to start? I'm on the floor in your lab, surrounded by books, taking notes like crazy and my tongue is sticking out the side of my mouth. Can't you use, I don't know, a picture where I'm _not _cramming for a final exam, or one where I'm not wearing my pajamas?

Tony eyed the picture a second longer before he removed his helmet completely. Pepper stared at him with a confused look until he leaned down, kissed her again and took a picture of them at the same time. By the time Pepper realized what he had just done, he was safely covered by his armor, flying above her in the air, and changing the wallpaper of his pod to the picture he had just taken.

"Tony Stark!" she pointed her finger up at his form. "I'm still in my pajamas in that picture!"

"I know," he replied. "You look good in them. Later, Potts!" he added before he disappeared behind a trail of repulsor-made lights.

"Ugh, you jerk!" she spat even though she had a smile on her face, unmistakably flattered by his actions. As she walked down the stairs to head back to her room her phone vibrated again, this time due to receiving a text message from her now-boyfriend.

"_I love you :)"_

And the ginger sent back the same message to him.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The pod's alarm woke her up an hour before her class started, and even though she had slept for only a few hours she was wide awake with excitement. After spending some time with Tony last night and after making sure she had not dreamt it all, she had passed out on her bed. She had caught a lucky break after all and the witches had left her dorm before she had returned to her room.

Now that her eyes were open and she had begun to get ready for class, the ginger could not wipe the smile off her face. She could still feel his arms around her and his cologne had rubbed off onto her own clothes. She was anxious for the weekend to arrive so she could see him again, and she could already tell the week was going to just take its sweet time to move along.

_Tony loves me_, she thought as she brushed her hair and smiled to herself. Not even the faces of anger and contempt she was getting from her now-present roommate bothered her. Sandra could burn down her bed or destroy her entire wardrobe and Pepper would not care one bit. The redhead felt nothing but bliss after her midnight adventure with the scientist. Who would have thought that a simple _commoner _would become Tony Stark's girlfriend?

If only Sandra knew about it…

_No_, the redhead thought. _She can't find out or she's going to make it hard for us to spend time together. _

Even though Pepper wanted to scream to anyone that would listen that she was in love and her love had been reciprocated, she knew it was not worth it, adding even more obstacles to her already complex relationship with the genius. Sooner or later the media would find out about Tony's outings, and now that he was an adult they had the right to stalk his personal life, allowing them to eventually learn about the redhead. At that point, their privacy would be thrown out the window and they would have to find clever ways to see each other away from their prying eyes.

"Maybe I should transfer to MIT." The redhead said aloud without realizing she had, only to hear the sound of cynical laughter behind her.

"_You_, go to _MIT_? You hardly have the funds to come to Berkeley. What makes you think you can ask for more charity to transfer to MIT? Besides, MIT is only for people with class, money and brains, requirements you definitely do _not_ meet."

"You are absolutely right," Pepper conceded as she walked over to her bed and sat on it to put on her shoes. "I guess that's the reason you don't go there either, right?"

The shock on Sandra's face at realizing she had been insulted with her own words was priceless for the redhead. The blonde quickly recovered, however, and she forced a laugh. "Your words don't hurt me, Potts, and much less your lies. We'll see how long your scholarship lasts you once the college realizes you don't have enough brains to be here."

"If I didn't have what it took to be here, then I'd have never been admitted in the first place." The ginger responded before she picked up her backpack from the floor and headed to the door.

"Not necessarily. I'm almost positive you were the good deed of some random member of the admissions committee. Don't even think for a second that MIT has the same leniency and accepts commoners there. MIT only accepts people of the caliber of Tony Stark."

Pepper froze at the door for a second, her back to the girl, debating on whether to continue the argument she knew she could easily win against the blonde, but decided against it when she realized her class would start in less than five minutes. She sighed deeply, shook her head and pretended to accept her defeat.

"I guess you're right again, Sandra. Nobody's at Tony Stark's level." She said and placed a foot out the door so she could begin running to her class but the blonde was not done with her berating of the ginger.

"_I_ am," she said with an air of almightiness that hardly fit in the building. "And that's why when I go see my dad at MIT this weekend, I'm going to make sure that Tony Stark knows who I am."

Pepper had to bite down her tongue to not laugh in the blonde's face as she turned around to stare at the girl. "Oh, I see. Your dad works at MIT?"

"He sure does. He's the Dean of the Engineering Department, and he told me that he is the personal academic advisor to Tony Stark. Typically he wouldn't honor a student with his knowledge, but seeing it _is_ Tony Stark, the school thought it'd be sensible that the dean himself guided someone as gifted as Tony."

"Wow! How lucky you are, Sandra! It seems you have some major connections to get to meet Tony Stark. Who'd be as lucky as you?"

"I know. Poor you, though. A big nobody like you could never dream of mingling with someone as rich and handsome as he."

"Not much I can do about it, huh?" Pepper said in an accepting tone. "Well, I really have to go now. I'll see you later," she said in a rush when she saw her chance to finally leave and head to the only class she did not share with her roommate, but not before overhearing Sandra calling her a _poor fool_.

It appeared, however, that someone else was the fool.

xxxXXXxxx

Tony lay on his bed, laughing aloud and practically hitting the mattress with his feet after hearing the story his girlfriend had just finished telling him. Tears were practically running down his face and if it was not for the fact that he was by himself in his dorm, he was certain that his roommates would have by now already called the nearest psychiatric facilities to have him admitted for the rest of his life.

"I honestly can't believe it, Pepper." He said once he had finally calmed down some and rested his back against the head of the bed. "Does she really think I'm going to suddenly fall to her feet by just looking at her? Who does she think she is? You?"

On the other end of the line Pepper blushed at imagining the possibility that Tony did in fact admire her as much as his words led her to believe and she was grateful that she was again on the roof by herself. _"Does it really surprise you, Tony? It's obvious that she has never __not__ gotten what she's wanted."_

"She's going to find out what that feels like, very soon. Seriously, if it wasn't because I'd rather be with you this weekend than anywhere else, I'd stay behind just to see her face of shock when I tell her she can go f- …well…you know."

_"Believe me, I would also __love__ to see that face on her, but I rather her not know about us knowing each other, let alone finding out that we're dating."_

"And why not, Pep? Are you ashamed of me?" He asked in a fake hurt tone.

_"Don't be a dumbass, Tony. I just don't want to give her more reasons to hate me."_

"Meh, I guess you're right. She might even leave you alone if she's busy trying to hook up me or whatever she thinks she's doing."

_"That's the hope,"_ Pepper sighed. _"Anyway, so it is true that her dad is your advisor?"_

"'Afraid so, but I hardly ever see him. I think he's intimidated by me."

_"There are very few people not intimidated by you, Tony."_

"True. What can I expect from someone as perfect as me, right?"

Pepper chuckled. _"Hardly. They get intimidated because they don't know that for every good invention you come up with, there are at least twenty faulty ones littering your lab's floor."_

"Whoa, Pepper! _Why_ do you have to remind me I'm not perfect?"

_"It's my job, Stark. Someone has to keep your feet planted on the ground or your big head full of air is going to take you to outer space one day."_

"You're so cruel. You hurt me, Pepper. Here I love you so much and just look at how you repay me."

_"And if I didn't treat you like that you wouldn't love me."_

"Dammit!" he spat. "Who the hell told you the truth?"

Pepper laughed aloud again, which was music to the inventor's ears. _"Who else? You just did! You're terrible at keeping secrets."_

At her words, Tony felt a bucket of cold water being poured over him when he remembered that some secrets he could keep inside; especially one that made him feel like the biggest loser on the planet. From all the people in the world he could ever have to lie to, his redhead was the last one on his list, and he could not wrap his head around the fact that he was lying to her every day. It was too late now to tell her truth, especially after making her his girlfriend.

"I guess one day you'd eventually found out I love it when you're rough with me," he said as he tried to clear his mind from his guilt. "I'll get over it, I'm sure."

_"You'd have no choice. For me you'll always be simply Tony: the guy that snores in his sleep."_

"Seriously? We're on that subject again? All evidence of such has been disposed of, Potts. You have no way of proving your assumptions."

_"Really? It wouldn't be that difficult to gather some more evidence. All I gotta do is catching you asleep."_

"Good luck with that. You're never catching me asleep ever again."

_"Oh, really? How sure are you of that?"_

"As sure as that my name is Tony 'freaking' Stark."

_"And what if I invited you sleep with me when you come see me? Would you deny me that request?"_ She whispered to him in a tone she knew would make the inventor rather nervous.

"Uhm…ah…well…I…uh…"

_"What a shame, really!"_ Pepper continued her torturing of him_. "Here I was hoping that you would stay with me in my dorm since Sandra won't be here. I guess you're staying in a hotel or something?"_

Tony remained speechless as he thought about the truth in her words. Sandra would be at MIT when he went to visit Pepper, which meant that for the first time since leaving the East Coast they would have privacy similar to the one they had learned to enjoy in his lab in Jersey. Being alone with Pepper had always made his palms sweat, and that had been before he had even asked her to date him.

_"Tony?"_

"Yeah, uhm…Pepper, sorry. I got distracted."

_"I can imagine,"_ she teased him. _"Anyway, I have to go now."_

"What? Already? But it's only…the hell? When did midnight get here?" he asked as he stared down at his watch to see two hours had already passed on the phone with his girl.

_"About fifteen minutes ago, Tony. You oughta go to sleep, too. We can't be staying up every night like this."_

"I know," he responded and sighed. "Talk later?"

_"Yup. Take care, Tony."_

"You too, Pep."

_"Night."_

"Night," he answered and hung up. His blue eyes then stared at his pod, thinking about how he would tell his girlfriend the truth; the truth that her problems at school were his fault.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm trying to translate this fic as best as I can, but I already know that there will be a major point that I won't be able to translate properly. In Spanish, there are two words used for the term "love." One is "querer," which means "to love," but it's kind of the "first stage" of love (you can date a person and love them all you want, but not really, _really_ love them). The "second stage" of love is "amar," which also means "to love," but it's the highest level you can get (mostly used with the person you marry). Sadly, I've found no similar English translation for these two words, which will take away from part of this story, and I apologize in advance for that. Oh, and I have major plans for Sandra…worse than what I had for Miss Jones in _The Last Month_. Much. Much. Worse.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Therefore," Pepper's calculus professor said as he wrote on the board and continued to kill his entire class through boredom and confusion. "We find that the first derivative with respect to _x_ represents the velocity of this object with mass _m_ at a point in time _t_ on this function. Isn't that incredibly fascinating?"

The redhead yawned behind her hand and shook her head when she realized she was falling asleep in class. It was not as if she was bored or completely lost like the rest of the class appeared to be, it was actually quite the opposite, in fact. A few months ago, while still attending the NYTA, Pepper had helped Tony with completing – read: transcribing – his differential calculus homework one day when the genius had been bed-ridden with a cold and had to miss school. Moreover, Tony had explained the same concepts to her using a better approach than the one being taken by the veteran instructor before her, and by using sketches that made more sense to her than the chicken scratch that currently littered the boards of the classroom. As such, whatever the professor had been trying to explain today was no news to her.

Her eyes traveled around the classroom and when they inadvertently landed on her roommate, Pepper could not hold back a smirk. The typically flawless-looking blonde was literally pulling her hair out of her head with a face of confusion and frustration that _almost_ made the redhead feel bad for the manipulative witch. Sandra felt the eyes of someone on her and when she saw that it was a mocking Pepper looking at her, the blonde glared at the redhead as if there was no tomorrow. Pepper simply shrugged it off and returned her attention to the front of the class only to realize that the torture was over for now.

"Next class we will study other fascinating applications of derivatives. How exciting! I'm sure you'll be on the edge of your seat with suspense, eager to learn!" The professor said with as much encouragement as possible despite his advanced age and completely ignoring the choral whining of the students before him. "See you next week, youngsters!"

Pepper snickered while she began putting away her belongings without realizing that someone was observing her – someone that had been doing so rather keenly throughout the class – the same someone that had just walked over to her, stood in front of her seat and spoke up.

"I think the professor should look up the definitions of 'fascinating' and 'exciting.' Don't you think?"

The girl looked up to see a tall, young man with blonde hair and green eyes staring up and down at her figure with an intense gaze and a bright and charming smile. Despite the man's attempts at showing off his handsome appearance by using his piercing eyes and a blatant display of his over-the-top muscles, Pepper remained unfazed. After nearly mastering the skill of resisting the charms of her blue-eyed boy on his best day, the present boy's efforts failed to impress her one bit.

"I think he's only trying to make the class a little bit more interesting," she said and picked up her backpack from her seat.

"Do you need help with that?" The boy asked as he flexed his arm in an exaggerated manner. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt by it."

_Oh, God._ The ginger had to control her natural instinct of rolling her eyes at the man for his apparent assumption that just because she was a girl she required the assistance of bulked-up men such as him. Pepper's hands gripped her backpack tightly; the last thing she wanted was for the stranger to grab onto her armor backpack. She then turned around and began walking in the direction of the exit as she responded to the man's question. "No thanks. Bye."

"Wait up!" The stubborn boy said. "What's your name?"

Now that her back was facing the man, Pepper had no reservations in rolling her eyes this time around. She picked up the pace when she saw she was practically at the door, but in the blink of an eye the would-be stalker caught up with her, obviously assisted by his larger legs.

"My name is Greg," he offered his hand to her. "And you? Do you have a real name or do I have to keep calling you: _the hottest girl I've seen in years_?"

Pepper had to force herself not to throw up her breakfast all over herself at hearing the lame pick-up line. She did, however, show the annoying boy some courtesy and shook his hand while answering the question she was certain he would continue asking if not answered right here, right now.

"Patricia," she gave him her best fake smile. "My name is Patricia."

"Patricia, huh? What a beautiful name you have. Do you have a preferred name? Is it Patty? Or maybe, Pat? Or do you have a different nickname you like best?"

The girl stared down at her watch in an exaggerated fashion before answering his question. "Pepper. My _boyfriend_ calls me: Pepper."

"Boyfriend? I see. Is he here at Berkeley, your boyfriend?"

"Not today," the redhead said in between clenched teeth and began walking again, closely followed by the guy who just would not take a hint.

"Oh! Then that must mean that you need some company today."

"Not really. But thanks. I'm very busy already, actually."

"Are you sure? Whatever it is that has you busy, I'm sure I can help you out. And then, after we're done, we could go back to my place and watch a movie together. I'm sure your boyfriend would be grateful for the help."

_Sure, he would. He'd thank you by making a hole in your head with his unibeam_, the redhead thought before answering the boy's rather indecent proposal. "I don't think so, but thanks."

The girl then took out her pod from her pocket and pretended to be busy with it, hoping the young man would now understand that she was not buying whatever it was that he was selling. Greg, however, was not done trying to charm the girl, so he walked over to her again and eyed the device with suspicious eyes. "What kind of phone is that?"

"It's an FBI prototype," she lied. "My dad works for the government and I sometimes get to test their new inventions. But, anyway, I'm in a hurry. See you later, Greg. It was nice meeting you."

"No, wait. Don't go yet. Where do you live?"

"Here in Berkeley."

"Well, duh! Which building, though?"

"The one farthest from yours!" Pepper responded, this time without caring how rude she sounded before she began to run. The midday class had just ended, and Pepper took advantage of the mass of students walking around to lose herself in the crowd. She stared back a few times to make sure Greg was no longer following her, but after the third stop she saw he was still very much hot on her trail. The redhead then decided to change evasive maneuvers and ran behind the closest building, keeping as much distance between them as she could.

Once temporarily protected by the structure, Pepper activated her armor by double tapping the button on the front of her backpack and in an instant she was covered by Rescue. She then triggered the stealth mode of her suit just in time before Greg appeared near her.

"Dammit! Where did she go?" The angry man groaned, staring left and right searching for the girl, and completely unaware that his target was right behind him. He walked around the area a few times, cursing aloud like a drunken sailor until his phone went off. He hastily pulled the device out of his back pocket and all but slammed it over his ear. "What? No. I don't know. I just lost her for a second and then…What? What do you mean?"

Pepper almost forgot how to breathe as she kept her back against the wall, literally and metaphorically speaking. Tony had told her too many times to not abuse the stealth mode feature of her suit since it drained its power rather quickly, but she knew she did not have any other option at this point. She was not completely certain what Greg was talking about with whoever was at the other end of the conversation, but she could already tell by his tone of voice, angry gestures and broken sentences that whatever it was, it was not good for her.

"I already told you I don't know where she went! I'll just have to catch her off-guard and alone. No. She doesn't know. Alright. I'll try again next week. Bye."

The ginger closed her eyes and pleaded to whatever higher power that heard her for Greg to leave as soon as possible, preferably before her suit died. Seconds later, she opened her eyes again and found that her prayers had been answered; the strange man was gone and nowhere to be found for now. Pepper sighed in relief but refused to deactivate the stealth feature just yet. She activated all four repulsors and propelled herself up before safely landing on the roof of the building she had just been hiding behind. Once on the roof, she made haste toward the access room and practically threw herself inside.

Feeling somewhat sheltered by the four walls around her, she retracted her suit and fell down to her knees. Her hands and legs were trembling, and while she usually did not allow herself to be shaken by the actions of anyone, there had been something in the way Greg had followed her and spoken about her when he thought she was not around that had made her lose her cool.

After taking in deep breaths and drying her nervous tears, she finally pushed herself up from the cold floor. She then began slowly walking down the stairs until she reached the nearest door and went through it to stand inside the main part of the building. She sprinted down the hall she had come to until she found the elevator and used it to climb down to the first floor. Once she heard the ding of arrival and the doors opened in front of her, she walked out of the moving room to realize she was in one of the school cafeterias, packed with students trying to munch on something before their next class.

Pepper took advantage of the first available seat she saw and sat down, her hands immediately covering her face as she thought about what to make of what just happened to her. Should she report it to someone? What if she had misunderstood the guy's intentions and then got him in trouble for no reason? How would she explain that she heard him without him knowing? She could probably tell the police she had been hiding behind a tree. What if they did not believe her? What if he followed her again? What if he was here, right now, in the same place as her, staring at her and waiting to make his next move?

_I should've just hit him with my repulsors when I had the chance_, she mused. She then looked up and around her to see if Greg was near but instead found that everyone in the cafeteria had their eyes glued to the many televisions on the wall. Pepper followed their gaze and it was then she realized what had everyone's attention. The screens showed scenes of the Golden Gate Bridge up in flames, people running for their lives, and a still picture of a man threatening police officers with grenades and guns in his hands.

"What the hell is going on?" the ginger asked herself as she stood up from the chair and walked over to the television screens, her encounter with Greg almost forgotten. Once she stood under the monitors, she leaned in closer to the speakers to hear the report of the news anchor on screen.

_"Ladies and gentlemen: what you're currently seeing is not edited or altered in any way. It appears a former Air Force member who was recently dishonorably discharged has taken matters into his own hands and has taken the midday commuters on the Golden Gate Bridge as his hostages. There have been no reported deaths as of now, but the sounds of explosions have been heard on the scene. It is believed that the man is loaded with homemade bombs and intends on blowing up the bridge with hundreds of people trapped on it. More details coming up after a brief commercial break."_

"Can you believe it?" a brunette girl said next to Pepper once the news report ended. "How can this man do this to innocent people?"

"Tell me about it," Pepper agreed, her eyes narrowing almost immediately.

"It's such a shame Iron Man spends most of his time on the East Coast, huh? Those people could surely use his help right about now."

_Iron Man_, the ginger thought and stared down at her pod. A quick analysis of the status of her armor revealed she only had about 57% of charge left, but that was definitely not going to stop her from trying to intervene. _He might not be here, but I am._

Without stopping to think about it further, Pepper ran out of the room, into the emergency stairwell and suited up. She then flew to the top of the stairs and out the roof access door she had just recently used, and immediately readjusted her flight plan to head to the nearby bridge. She was not sure what she could do for the hostages, but that was not going to keep her from trying to help.

_Rescue to the…rescue!_ She thought without recognizing the danger she was about to face.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Tony groaned loudly and repeatedly slapped his forehead with his right hand as he walked toward his dorm, full gym bag held securely across his chest. The irony that Pepper's words had turned out to be prophetic did not escape him as he stared down at the device in his left hand: he had actually ended up breaking his pod after all.

Well, more like _washing_ his pod.

_Dammit!_

In light of his upcoming trip to visit Pepper at Berkeley, the inventor had decided to do his laundry today – during the middle of the week. In his attempt at multitasking – doing laundry, homework, and having a quick bite to eat while simultaneously avoiding the girls that tried to slip their thongs with their phone numbers written on them in his gym bag of clean clothes – he had forgotten he had placed his beloved communication device inside the bag. Thus, at some point when the genius had dumped his clothes inside the washer, the pod had gone inside with them, and it had come out in parts rather than as a whole.

"If Pepper finds out about this, I'm never going to hear the end of it."

He finally arrived at his building, and he dragged his feet up the stairs, moaning and groaning some more. He could not wait for Friday to be here; he needed a break and the scientifically-proven-to-work relaxing and cheering up techniques of his favorite girl.

"Well, maybe not _scientifically_ proven," he admitted, highly aware that he – a scientist – should know better than to make such claims. "But they work," he whispered to himself with a smile. Thinking about spending the weekend alone with Pepper was both exciting and nerve-wracking, but either way he was counting down the seconds to be with her again. His heart beat faster just thinking about it, and even if they spent the entire weekend watching paint dry, as long as she was around, he truly did not give a damn what they did to pass the time.

Tony slid his card key in the door and the red light turned green. He then pushed the door open and walked inside his small apartment/dorm only to find his three roommates in the common room, sitting on the couch, eating popcorn and watching TV.

"Yo, Stark-man is here!" Lewis said and waved Tony toward the couch. "You gotta see this, dude! It's like watching live action reality TV!"

Tony did not dare to stare at the television and covered his face from it as he walked around the couch and headed to his room. "No, thanks, guys. I'm not falling for that again."

"For what?" Ray asked. "You mean porn? Nah, we're still waiting for you to make that miracle happen for us, _Mr. Technology Specialist_."

Tony shook his head, reached his door and opened it up, responding to his roommate's complaint before walking inside his room. "I already told you it ain't gonna happen. I'm _not_ rigging the cable service to get porn channels!"

"I would do it for you, if I knew how!" Rick yelled back. "But that's not what we're watching, Tone. And actually, you of_ all_ people _should_ be watching this."

"Why?" Tony left the door to his room open to listen to his roommates while he dropped the gym bag on his bed. He then began putting away his clean clothes as he mentally made a list of what he would need to do to repair his pod. "What do you mean?"

_"I mean that one of your friends is on TV." _Rick responded.

"Friends?" Tony asked, hanging some of his clothes in his closet. "What friends?"

_"One of your Iron Man friends. I think it's, uhm, War Machine?" _Lewis answered.

Tony stopped his task and his eyes landed on his broken pod on the mattress. He had added a feature to his pod so that if any of the suits were to be activated for any reason, he would receive an immediate notification of such. However, since his pod was down for the count, he had been left out of a potential mission he could be needed for.

"Is he winning?" Tony asked and ran to his laptop on the floor to check the status of the suit.

_"Depends what you mean by 'winning.'"_ Ray offered, causing Tony to curse and his fingers to fly over the keyboard.

_"Dude, that's not War Machine,"_ Tony heard Rick said. _"War Machine's the big dude, the one that looks like a refrigerator on steroids. No, this is the other one. I think we've only seen this one once."_

Tony's froze.

"Oh, you're right!"Lewis corrected himself. "This is the other one that was there when the aliens tried taking over New York! What's her name? I only know her as the chick that Iron Man _smooched_ on TV. Ha-ha!"

"Rescuer or some other," Ray said.

"Rescue Ranger?" Lewis asked.

"No, you dumbasses!" Rick said and threw popcorn at his friends. "It's…"

"Rescue," they all heard Tony say from his position behind the couch, his eyes wide and glued to the screen. "Her name is Rescue."

"Well," Lewis pointed to the television as it showed Pepper getting hit by some of the grenades the man trying to bring the bridge down was throwing at her. Her shield kept appearing and disappearing, but the superhero's movements were becoming erratic. "It seems Rescue needs some rescuing herself. I don't think you can make it to California in the next five minutes, huh?"

"No," he swallowed hard and for the first time since they had met the boy on their first day at orientation, the three men in the room saw a look of unmasked fear on the billionaire's face. The three men stared at one another, unsure of what else to say or do, so they resorted to just raising the volume to hear the detailed report of the anchor.

_Pepper_, the inventor thought before running back to his room and grabbing his laptop, his pod, and his small toolbox and returned to the common room. He then placed all of the items on the table, unpacked the toolbox and began repairing his pod faster than he thought he could. His laptop was shutting down the connection to War Machine and starting its connection to Rescue, and while he waited for the switch Tony grabbed a couple of the tools he needed for the pod and began walking back and forth between the table and the back of the couch.

_"It appears the Good Samaritan on your screen, ladies and gentlemen; who has now been identified as Iron Man affiliate 'Rescue', has helped gain the authorities some time by welding back some of the broken pieces of the bridge, but we all know this is just temporary. The bomb squad has been able to disarm some of the explosives, but the highest concentrations of explosives surround the former member of the Air Force and…oh…wait a minute, ladies and gentlemen, I'm getting new information…"_

The laptop beeped twice and Tony ran back to it to see Rescue's interface on its screen. Pepper's vitals showed she was calm for now, but her heart rate was slowly increasing. Her suit had sustained major damage, particularly the shield generators, and the armor's power was down to 18%. The inventor then heard a loud gasp coming from his shocked roommates and his eyes flew from the computer to the television at the exact moment the mad man opened his coat to reveal the loads of explosives tied to his body, and his thumb pressed the trigger he had in his hand.

Everything after that went in slow motion for everyone present and watching from home, and most especially for Tony Stark.

On screen, Pepper lifted her arms in front of herself and aimed her armored hands at the man at the same time he had pressed the trigger. The explosives the man had strapped himself with him caused the other grenades and bombs near him to ignite, and soon the massive explosion released its devastating energy in every direction. A detonation of that caliber would have surely downed the bridge with everyone on it, had it not been for Rescue's quick thinking.

Before everyone's eyes, Rescue brought up and maintained a shield around the detonation area, keeping the explosion contained inside its protective bubble. With every new blast more explosives were ignited, like the worst yet most successful domino effect ever, and the larger the overall denotation became, the more Pepper struggled to keep it from blowing up in her face.

_"Goodness! I can't believe what I'm seeing!"_ The reporter continued. _"Look at that massive energy building up! It has to go somewhere! It's going to blow up!"_

Along the bridge everyone began running away from the barely contained explosion. Police officers, firefighters and any other authority present began ushering the civilians out of the way, knowing that while Rescue's efforts were notable, they could only last for so long.

"Damn, how is she doing this?" Ray whispered, honestly concerned for the girl, and in the silence that surrounded the room Tony was able to hear him. The four men were then startled by the sound of an alarm inside the room, and it took the inventor two seconds to realize it was coming from his laptop behind him.

"No!" Tony yelled and ran to the computer to stare at the suit analysis. The power was quickly dying and Pepper's heartbeat was off the charts. With shaky hands he keyed in the code to open the line to Rescue's communication system, and in an instant he heard the double beep signifying a link had been established. "Rescue, what the _hell_ are you doing? Get out of there!" The scientist screamed at his laptop, catching the attention of his roommates who did not know whether to leave or stay, and whether to watch the scene on television or stare at the agitated inventor behind them.

_"Tony?"_

"Who else would it be? Put down the shield!"

_"Are you crazy, Stark? If I put down the shield the explosion is going to bring the bridge down!"_

"It's already going to happen, and you only have 2% of power left. Use it to get out of there now!"

_"No! There's still people on there!"_

Tony's shifted his gaze from Pepper's face on the screen to the television, cursing under his breath when he saw that the civilians were indeed still trying to empty the bridge. The scientist then closed his eyes for a brief second and held his suddenly rather heavy body by grabbing onto the edge of the table where the laptop lay. "Please…I'm _begging _you. Get out."

_"I can't, Tony."_

"Yes, _yes_ you can. You've done all you can, now please, put down the shield and haul ass out of there."

_"Not yet."_

"What do you mean not yet? There is no time!"

_"Just a few more seconds,"_ the redhead insisted even though her voice sounded as strained as her suit was. _"They're almost out of danger."_

"Why are you being so stubborn? Get OUT!" Tony slammed his hand on the table, and his roommates flinched when they saw it crack down the middle with the impact.

_"NO!" _She spat back with as much anger as he_._

"Stop arguing. Do it!"

_ "I said NO! I can do this, Tony!"_

"Listen to me," he leaned down closer to the screen as if that would help convincing her. "Your suit is running on emergency backup now. Get. Out."

_"No. Just…ten more…seconds."_

"You _don't_ have ten more seconds! The shield is about to give!"

_"Five more seconds!"_

"NO! Are you hearing this? Get out! It's an order, Rescue. Get out!"

_"Order? Who do you think you…" _The line went dead and the Rescue interface froze until it showed that the connection had been lost.

Tony grabbed the edges of the laptop's screen and shook them violently. "NO! Rescue! Pe—"

"Oh, shit!" Tony heard Ray say, and the boy's head snapped to his left. When the inventor's eyes landed on the screen, it was only to see the shield finally come down and the explosion expand its destructive force, eating up everything and anything near it, including Rescue.

* * *

**A/N:** This should last you for five days, right?


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

First, it had been cool and dry and tiring. Then it had been hot and it had _hurt_. Then, it had been _really_ hot and it had hurt like _hell_. Then, it had been scorching hot and it had hurt like a _son of a bitch_, and then – just when she thought it could not get any more painful, it had started hurting a _whole_. _Fucking. Lot._

…and then it had been cold again…

…and wet…

…and then there had been no oxygen…

And that was when she had woken up…

Gagging…

And she had nearly drowned…

But she had not, and it had been all thanks to her sheer will to live long enough just so she could tell Tony she had done it, even when he had believed she could not.

Or maybe she had survived just because she was not planning on dying just yet.

Then again, he was probably going to kill her anyway when he screamed at her _a lot_ for disobeying an order, but truly, when did she _ever_ listen to anything that was best for her?

_I should probably start doing that right now_, the redhead thought as she slowly swam to the shore – or something that resembled a shore. She was not sure where the explosion had taken her to, but it seemed like a random piece of land surrounded by the ocean. She just hoped she had not been blown all the way to Japan; it would be a bitch to return to the States if she had.

As she pulled herself from the water on all fours, she began feeling the true effects of the fight she hoped she had just won. Her ears were ringing loudly despite how much she shook her head. She was not sure the rocks she was seeing in front of her were actually _several_ and not just one that was distorted because her eyes refused to focus, and muscles she did not know she had were starting to hurt.

Her arms finally gave in and she fell on her back, her backpack armor still attached to her after having retracted itself when the power had finally reached zero. Her body slammed on the beach with such force that she sent sand all over the place, some of it landing over her. She then shut her eyes tightly when she felt something on her leg began to sting. Holding back a yelp, she opened her eyes again and forced herself to look down at her legs only to gasp.

"Oh, _crap_!" she sobbed, trying to keep the tears of pain from trailing down her cheeks when she saw her left shin was burned badly, and the salt and sun were making it hurt more than it should. "I'm never hearing the end of this."

She took a deep breath and forced herself to turn over so that she lay on her face to allow the mini solar panels Tony had installed on the backpack armor to begin doing their job. She did not need a lot of energy in the suit – if it still worked, and if she was still in California. All she needed was just two or three percent to make it back to her dorm.

Or a hospital, whichever was closer.

_I can't go to a hospital_, she reminded herself. _They're going to ask questions and take the suit and…no…I have to wait._

She remained silent and still for a moment, replaying in her head the last moments before the explosion had sent her off to la-la land. Even though the shield had come down, it had done so in such a way that only the front of it had come down first, and she hoped it had been enough to release most of the energy of the blast toward her rather than on the bridge itself. She had not been able to see the pattern the shield had continued to disappear in, but if she had not taken the worst of it with her, she was certain most of the people left on the bridge were now dead.

She closed her eyes again and sighed; the energy the adrenaline had given her just moments ago to save herself from drowning was quickly disappearing, leaving her feeling as if she had been beaten up with a concrete stick. The suit would take at least half an hour to recharge the energy reserve, and she was quickly starting to lose consciousness. She knew she had to hurry up and send some kind of beacon of her location before she passed out or she would either lose her leg to an infection or die of injuries and exposure. Her suit was in no condition to do so, so she painfully dug her hand inside her torn backpack and took out her pod.

_You better work you piece of shit_. She thought when she saw the device was dripping water. She shook some of it off and sighed in relief when she saw that even though the screen was cracked, the phone was still on. _I guess Tony was not kidding when he said my pod was more powerful than the one he had; my other phone would've been dead by now._

The small effort to find the phone was making her struggle to keep her eyes open, so she immediately slid open the cover and activated the voice command feature of the phone. She dragged the phone as close to her mouth as she could, and with the last bits of her voice she spoke into it.

"Connect to Stark server."

"_Connecting to Stark server. Username?"_

"Pepper Potts."

"_Pepper Potts. Username recognized. Voice recognition activated. Password?"_

"Potts2020."

"_Password accepted. Voice pattern accepted. Welcome, Miss Potts. Awaiting command."_

"Initiate Stark 911 Sequence."

The phone beeped three times before it responded to her command. _"911 Sequence initiated. Please state protocol."_

"Protocol 4357. User: Rescue."

"_Protocol 4357 initiated for user: Rescue. Sending coordinates to user: Iron Man. Please stand by."_

_Not much else I can do, bitch, _she thought bitterly and chuckled before she finally closed her eyes only for her guilty conscious to lure her to sleep with Tony's terrified face in the back of her mind. Her current status had all been her fault, but she knew that he would have done the same thing she did had he been in her place.

Whether he would ever accept it, or not, was a completely different story.

xxxXXXxxx

The three roommates were afraid to move lest they would unleash the brooding anger of the inventor upon themselves. Their eyes slowly shifted from a white-as-a-sheet Tony to the television set where the news anchor repeatedly stated that the – ironically – rescue crews that had jumped after the fallen hero when she had hit the water with full force were finding nothing but _parts _of her suit. The news anchor had then requested prayers from the viewers, stating that thanks to the hero's intervention, the explosion had been incredibly diminished to just causing cosmetic damage, and no loss of life other than the asshole that had caused the blast in the first place was reported as of now.

No loss of life reported as of yet other than the apparent MIA status of Tony Stark's girlfriend.

"No," he whispered to himself and swallowed hard to recover his failing voice. "No, no, no," he said again as he crushed his already broken pod in his hand. The eyes of the bystanders widened when they saw the scientist's hand open again to see that only dust remained of the once precious device. "She can't be…she can't…"

Tony closed his eyes and screamed loudly, and something that he was not aware he could do occurred. His Extremis inadvertently hacked into all the electronic devices in the building and short circuited every single one of them, including the only means he had to continue watching the aftermath of the fight.

"Dude," Lewis stared at the now smoking television. "Did you just…_kill_ everything?" he asked, failing to carefully choose his words and causing Tony to glare at him. The scientist opened his mouth and pointed at the scared man but his words died in his mouth when he heard a loud beep.

All four of them froze for a moment before they began patting down themselves, looked around, and wondered what could have possibly survived the blast of Tony's unleashed energy. When they confirmed that their cell phones were indeed fried, Tony's mind reminded him that there was _one_ item in the apartment that could have sustained his uncontrolled energy discharge.

Tony extended his left hand toward his room and in the blink of an eye the appropriate gauntlet appeared before him, closely followed by the rest of the armor as it began attaching to the scientist's body. The teens had only seen Tony using the suit on television, and this was the first time they got to see the genius' alter ego in action before their very eyes. Had they not been scared that Iron Man would go off on them and the fact that all electronic devices were no longer in service, they would have begun taking pictures and video of the incredible sight.

Once the suit was completely loaded onto the blue-eyed boy, the screen inside the helmet came to life, showing him the coordinates of the beacon Pepper's pod had sent.

"She's alive," he said to no one in particular and ran toward the front door that Ray already held open for him, and everyone in the building who had left their dorms due to the lack of electric power in them saw Iron Man take off into the skies.

* * *

**A/N:** OK, so you didn't have to wait five days :) I have guests and I didn't think I could write anything but here you go ^_^


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

His presence in the back of the room was the first thing her eyes landed on when they opened again, and had it not been for his hunched yet rigid sitting posture in a chair, his laced hands covering the bottom half his face, and the glare she was currently receiving from him, she would have been that much happier to see him again after she had thought she was definitely going to die.

_Did he see me? Yeah, he saw me._ Their eyes found each other's instantly after she blinked a few times to focus her eyes on his form, and she did not even pretend she was not aware he knew she had finally woken up.

It had only taken her six hours to recover consciousness since he had found her passed out on the southwestern shores of Angel Island – little over five miles from the Golden Gate Bridge. However, with the way Tony was yet to move an inch other than his slow blinking, Pepper almost wished she had remained unconscious much longer than whatever time she did not know had passed.

She finally looked away from him and cleared her throat, which felt as if it was filled with as much sand as her undergarments had been. She slowly scanned her surroundings and confirmed her suspicions that she was in a hospital, and the wiggling of her exposed toes at the end of the bed told her she had neither lost her legs nor her ability to walk.

Her eyes fell on him again, and she swore that if his shoulders were not slightly rising to show he was breathing, she would have thought she was staring at a very well-made wax statue of her boyfriend.

He was still her boyfriend, right?

"I…" she tried to speak but her mouth was dry. "I'm…thirsty," she said with a lot of effort spent for those two simple words.

Still speechless, Tony stood up from the chair and walked over to a small table by the only window in the room. He poured enough water in a glass to fill it up and then turned around and walked toward the redhead. He pressed a button on the edge of the bed and the upper portion of the mattress began lifting until Pepper was almost sitting up. He then held the glass to her lips and helped her chug down every single drop of the liquid inside.

A small trail of water slid down her lips, so he took out a handkerchief from his back pocket and used it to carefully wipe her chin. The movement caused his fingertips to brush against her face, and for an instant his cold eyes were replaced by ones of yearning. The brief window of opportunity did not last long, however, and his eyes returned to their unreadable look when he closed his hand and pulled away from her. Pepper gave him a slow nod, cleared her throat once more, and spoke up. "Thank you."

The inventor just stood there, arms at his sides, and eyes staring directly at her as she became uncomfortable with the silence. She could not think of one time in the past when Tony had been stunned silent by the anger she could see pouring out of him – at least not anger directed toward her.

Now that she was slowly starting to feel more aware of herself, she stared down at herself and counted two legs and two arms, ten fingers and ten toes. She touched her face with her fingertips, and then pulled on the front of her hospital gown to look down into it. Other than some minor scrapes and bruises here and there, she looked healthy enough so far. She then pulled the covers off herself and flinched when she saw her left shin was all bandaged up. Throughout her quick inspection, the inventor was yet to say a word or remove his eyes from her; a fact that did not escape the uncomfortable ginger.

"So, did it work?" she asked him, her eyes still on her leg. When Tony did not respond she looked up at him, her patience running thin with his attitude toward her. She gave the inventor a few more seconds to respond but when he did not, she shook her head at him and sighed. "You would've done the same thing, you know?"

The ginger would have thought that she had just insulted his late grandmother with the look he gave her. He crossed his arms over his chest, took in a deep breath, and tilted his head forward.

_Here we go_, she thought, covering her body with the blanket again, and she looked down at her hands on her lap.

"Did I just hear you _assume_ what _I_ would've done in _your_ place?"

"No," she said as calmly as possible. "I've simply extrapolated from your previous actions as Iron Man and arrived at a reasonable conclusion based on the facts."

"Really?" he spat back with obvious incredulity in his tone of voice even though he knew she was right. This was not about who was right or wrong; it was about Pepper putting herself in what he considered to be unnecessary danger and not listening to what his more experienced ass had to say. "I don't think you _understand_ the facts enough to extrapolate them like that, Potts."

"Sure, because making it out alive from a situation and _not_ making it out alive from a situation are very difficult to differentiate. You would've done the same thing, Tony. You've taken as many risks as needed in order to save lives."

"I took risks, Pepper, so other people didn't _have_ to. Particularly _not _those people I care about," he said with barely controlled rage. "And most especially, not my girlfriend."

"Well, what were you thinking giving me and Rhodey suits? Surely you knew that we were bound to be faced with a difficult situation at some point, right? Don't tell me that your smart mind didn't tell you that putting us inside a suit of armor would make us want to do the right thing; the same things you do every day."

"It's not the same."

"Oh, really?" she asked, the volume of her voice slowly rising. "How do you figure, huh? Because from where I'm standing, I did what I should've done. How many times did we tell you not to push yourself and you didn't listen? How many times did you almost die on us? How many times did we…did _I_ have to watch you run off to certain doom?"

Tony lowered his arms to his sides, and his hands turned into fists. He then walked up to the redhead and towered over her sitting form. "It's different, Pepper! The world depended on me doing my job!"

"And the people on that bridge depended on me keeping the damage to a minimum! Are you saying that just because I didn't save the entire world, my actions are not justified?"

"No, I'm not saying that. You saved a lot of people today. In fact, the only one that didn't make it was the idiot who caused it all."

"Really?" Pepper smiled. "It worked, then? Everyone was saved?"

"Yes," Tony reluctantly agreed. "Yes, it worked. But that's not the point. You could've killed yourself, Pepper! And for what? For a man that wanted to die anyway?"

"Of course not! For the other hundreds that got caught in the middle. Did you not _see_ all of those people? Why are you making a big deal out of this, anyway?"

"What?" he almost choked on his words and leaned over by the side of the bed. "Did you seriously just ask me what the big deal is? You disobeyed me and let a bomb – no, wait – _bombs_ explode in your face, and you don't know what the fucking big deal is?" His face ended up inches from hers.

She swallowed hard but kept eye contact with him, pained to see how much fury was present in his gaze – all of it directed at her. "I don't have to listen to you, Tony."

"Yes, you do! You absolutely HAVE to listen to me, especially when I'm trying to save your life! As long as that suit is in your possession, you have to respond to what I say!"

"I _did_ respond to what you said by telling you I wasn't listening to you."

"Dammit, Pepper!" He threw his hands in the air. "Don't you care about yourself? About me? About _us_? Do you have any idea what it was like to watch you get blown to pieces on TV? _Any_ idea at all?!"

"Yes, I actually_ do_ have an idea, Anthony Edward Stark," she pointed at him. "It was the _same_ feeling I got when _you_ told Gene to kick us out of the Makluan ship and you stayed behind. It was the _same_ feeling I had when I saw that damned ship explode with you still inside!"

Tony opened his mouth to deny her claims, but when he realized he could not, he did the only other thing he could think to do: shout at her some more. "So is this payback, Pepper?" He pulled away from her and walked over to the wall the chair he had been sitting in was. "Did you do this just to get revenge on me, or something?"

"Oh, my God!" She rolled her eyes. "You know, you were making more sense when you weren't talking."

"Sense? _I'm_ not making sense? Pepper, I thought you were dead! I thought I'd lost you!"

"Yes, I get that, and I'm sorry that I scared you, but I didn't die and you didn't lose me. So there, move on."

"M-move on?" He blinked in disbelief. "Move _on_? Look at you, for fuck's sake! You have second degree burns on your leg, you almost drowned on me, and you nearly ended up scattered all over the Pacific, and you expect me to just 'move on' from that?"

"I expect you to be happy that I'm alive and not chew my head off when I did the job I'm expected to do when I put on that suit!"

"And you think that I'm not relieved that I found you alive? Pepper, I was…beyond myself…I…the thought of you gone…I…just couldn't imagine…" He covered his face with his hands and inhaled, trying to keep his emotions in check, believing that anger was the only way to make her understand. "I couldn't believe how stupid you acted! How stupid your decision was!"

"You know, when the person you claim to love is in the hospital, it is typical to bring them flowers, not insult them."

"This is not a joke, Pepper. You don't just put on the suit and take on anything just because you feel protected by it."

"That's what you do!"

"I made the damned thing! I know its limits!"

"Do you, now?"

"Yes, I do!"

"Oh, you mean the same limits you pushed every time you went on a mission? The ones that made you inject yourself with Extremis?"

The inventor again was left speechless. He shook his head and stared at the window as he spoke. "I should've never made you that suit."

"You can't take it back now."

"I don't have to," he shrugged. "Fucking thing is nothing but scrap now. I had to peel it off your back."

"Then you're making me a new one."

Tony scoffed. "Let me think about that. Uhm …no."

"Why not?" She yelled and threw the cover off her. She then slid her legs to the side of the bed and forced herself to stand up, flinching when the bandages on the burned skin on her leg pulled on the injury. "Because…because you want to be the only one that takes risks? Are you taking Rhodey's suit, too?"

"What the hell are you doing getting up?" He walked over to her and tried to push her back to bed by cupping her shoulders. "You need to rest."

"And you need to get off my case and trust me," she pushed his arms away from her shoulders.

"Oh, I trust you, Pepper. I trust that you're going to kill yourself the next time you think it's OK to take on a wannabe terrorist all by yourself. Why didn't you call me?"

"I didn't think I needed you. Besides, the pod said your phone was offline."

The teen pursed his lips, refusing to let the ginger know of his own stupid mistake. He then rested his hands on his hips and stared at the nothingness over Pepper's head. "You're not getting another suit and that's final."

"Why?"

"Why? You want to know why?"

"I just asked, didn't I? Are you going deaf on me, now?"

The scientist glared at her for an instant before he walked away. Pepper was almost certain he was simply going to just leave the room, but he surprised her when he walked over to a door in the corner of the room. He opened the door and left it open, walked back to her, picked her up in his arms, and then took her through the door with him. The ginger yelped and tried to force him to let her go, but he did not do so until he planted her feet on the floor in front of a mirror. The small room he had taken her to was the private bathroom of the hospital suite, which told Pepper they were not in any old regular hospital.

"This is why," he said and pointed to her reflection in the mirror, particularly of a small – almost insignificant – bruise by her left temple. The redhead leaned closer to the mirror and rubbed the almost imperceptible blemish she knew she could cover with her bangs and shrugged.

"What am I looking at?"

"That," he began as he continued to stare at her through her reflection, standing closely behind the girl. "That is the mark of what almost killed you. One of the metal sticks holding the bombs together flew at your head. The piece of metal embedded itself into the helmet, and if it had pushed inside just 1/2 of an inch more, it would've pierced your skull."

The redhead rubbed the same spot again with her left hand and her lost glance told the inventor she was picturing the scene in her head. She then sighed loudly and turned around to face Tony whose posture denoted he was still unyielding about his decision, but his eyes showed how tired he was of their fight. She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead against his chest, and her hands rested on his fisted ones.

"I'm not apologizing for going on that mission."

"And you shouldn't," he agreed despite the danger she had been in. "Rescue kicked ass. I'm very proud of what she did today…well, except the bomb part. Although," he added in a whisper and unclenched his hands to lace his fingers with hers, "I'm still not happy you risked your life like that. Your life is my life, Pepper."

Pepper bit her lower lip to calm her rapidly beating heart before her muffled voice was heard. "Couldn't be helped."

"Sure it could," he whispered and looked down at the top of her face that hardly made it to his upper chest. "You could've used the repulsors to shoot the trigger out of his hand."

Pepper's entire body snapped back and he looked up at Tony's half-smirking face. "Huh…yeah…that would've been…easier…" she smiled in slight embarrassment.

"Safer, too."

The ginger sighed and looked to the side. "Yeah, alright. I screwed up on that, I'll give you that. That was my bad."

The inventor's right hand slid from her hand to the left side of her face, and he forced her to look at him, his thumb lightly stroking her cheek. "You scared me, Pepper."

The redhead closed her eyes, leaned her face closer to his hand and placed a chaste kiss on his thumb. She then opened her eyes again to look up at him while his thumb caressed her lips for a brief moment before he leaned down and kissed her.

The girl hardly had any time to readjust her arms to rest her hands on his chest before his arms surrounded her completely, pulling her closer into his tight embrace. He slowly turned them around in place so that she was no longer resting against the sink but the wall. He then broke the kiss for a moment and dug his face in her neck, and his hands moved down to rest on her waist.

"I didn't think I'd be able to do this again," he whispered to her and kissed down her neck to her shoulder, giving the redhead goosebumps every time his lips brushed against her skin. He then returned to her lips and the kiss that had started out soft and slow was quickly becoming more passionate until Tony's leg brushed against her burned shin.

"Oh, _crap_!" Pepper exclaimed and bent over in pain.

"Ugh! I'm sorry!" He said to her, kneeled down in front of her to check up on her leg and it was then that Howard Stark and Virgil Potts walked inside the restroom. The ginger was biting down on her right thumb to keep her from screaming in pain, and Tony was down on one knee partially lifting her gown to make sure the bandages had not come off. While the move was innocent enough, to the two newcomers the posture was not above suspicion.

"I thought you said he was going to yell at her for the both of us, Howard," Virgil stated, causing Tony to immediately release the gown and crash down on his butt on the floor.

"The nurses called me because they heard that there was a lot of yelling coming from here," Howard shrugged. "But now I wonder if it was argument yelling and not something else."

"Dad, please!" Tony yelled and picked himself up from the floor. "I bumped into her leg and was checking it was still OK, that's all."

"Oh," Virgil said. "And how did you bump into it? Did you hit my daughter?" the man asked and narrowed his eyes at the blue-eyed boy.

"What? No! I was kissing her!"

"TONY!" Pepper yelled, already blushing to her toes and covering her face.

"What? Oh! Uhm…I mean…" Tony stared between his father and Virgil and then groaned. "Never mind," he finally said and picked up the ginger again as he had done before to return her to bed, walking in between the two adults who could barely contained their knowing smirks.

"I think she's alright," Virgil said as soon as Tony and Pepper left the restroom. "Thanks for bringing her over here, Howard."

"It's no problem," Stark Sr. said. "Thanks for not killing my son."

The two men snickered and then returned to the main hospital room to watch Tony covering Pepper with the blanket, and saw the redhead nod at whatever the inventor had just whispered to her. Tony then kissed her hand and silently left the room. Howard followed his son outside to deal with the cover story to keep Rescue's identity a secret, and Pepper was left with her father to hear another round of kudos and scowling combined.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

He did get her flowers after all, just not sent to the hospital. She found them on her nightstand back in her dorm room when she had walked in to it just now, and near them she had found her utterly pissed-off roommate glaring at the beautiful vase of twenty-four large, bright red roses. Pepper smiled and her skin tingled again remembering their quick make-out session the day before that had been sadly interrupted by her stupid injured leg. He had not returned to see her again at the hospital until this morning and only to make sure she was ready to be checked out. He had then said goodbye to her before Virgil drove her back to the campus and the FBI man had returned to New York himself. Tony was going to come to Berkeley tomorrow night, anyway, as soon as she confirmed with him that Sandra was gone.

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend, Pepper," the girl pointed to the flower arrangement. "You never mentioned anything like that."

Pepper shrugged at the blonde and dropped her bag of clothes and newly bought school books on her bed. Her old books and school supplies had gotten burned to ashes during the fight, and yesterday Tony had taken on the task of buying replacements of such, which was one of the reasons why he had not returned to see her last night. She was without armor and without a pod, but Tony had promised to make her a new pod and bring it with him tomorrow for his weekend visit with her. The new armor was still up for discussion – or at least for Pepper it was.

"I would've told you more about me if you hadn't gone batshit crazy," Pepper said as her hands reached for the card embedded in the flowers. "Why would you think it's from a boyfriend, anyway?"

"Obvious," Sandra rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest while she watched Pepper realize that her roommate had already meddled in her gift and had read the card before the redhead had walked inside the room. Pepper took out the greeting card from the envelope and read the front of it first; it showed the picture of a sad donkey with a word bubble above it, which read: _"Words cannot express…"_

She then opened it to read its contents and giggled: _"…how much of an ass I was to you. You can kick mine if you want to, but please forgive me." _Below the printed words of the card was Tony's neat writing, adding more to the note:_ "I only yelled because I care. Love you lots, Potts."_

To the ginger's relief, Tony had had enough sense not to sign the card with his name, and he had only initialed it with "S.S." which Pepper knew it stood for Stark Solutions.

"What's his name?"

"Uhm?" Pepper asked, just now remembering she was not alone in her room.

"Ugh, the guy! What's his name? He didn't have the decency to sign the card."

"What do you care?" The ginger asked and put away the card back on her nightstand next to the vase.

"Why are you afraid to tell me? Are you scared I'll find out who he is and then realize you are dating a freak and tell everyone I know? I can already tell you are. Only a freak would date someone like you."

"He's not a freak, and his name and identity are none of your business," the ginger spat and began getting ready for her only class of the day, which sadly she shared with the annoying girl next to her.

"Oh, really?" Sandra stood up and began getting ready for class herself. "Want to know what I think?"

"Not really," Pepper said.

"I think that he's ugly…hideous…an eye sore."

Pepper smirked. "Really?"

"Yup. I think he's probably deformed… crippled even. Yes! He's a hunchback…with one eye…That's _it_, isn't? He's a one-eyed, deformed hunchback! And S.S. stands for Scrawny Shithead!"

If Pepper did not already known that she had nothing to fear when it came to this girl hitting on Tony, like she had feared with Whitney, her words would have hurt her a lot more. "Scrawny Shithead?" the ginger repeated. "I thought that was your name."

"What?"

"Well, your initials are also S.S., right? Sandra Saunders?"

The blonde's mouth hung, almost hitting the floor. This time, the shock was too much for the rich girl, and no comeback came to her quickly enough before Pepper waved at her and left the room to go to class. It was not until Pepper was out of hearing range that Sandra took out her cell phone from her pocket and dialed a number she had not dialed since yesterday.

"Greg?" she began. "I need you to find out something for me."

xxxXXXxxx

Tony could not contain his excitement. The last specks of Friday had dragged on forever, and minutes ago when he had received the e-mail from Pepper saying that Sandra was gone, he had just had enough time to grab his still unpacked bag of clean clothes from Wednesday, drop inside it their new pods, his new laptop, and other stuff he was taking to help with Pepper's wound, put on his suit and fly off to California. He definitely did not want to be there when Sandra showed up at MIT to try to entice him with whatever she thought she could get the boy's undivided attention.

Catching up with the classes he had missed in the last two days had been a piece of cake, and after asking the RA's to take down an inventory of all the devices he had broken in the building with his little Extremis burst, he had ordered new ones for everyone. He had even made sure to make a small _donation_ to the campus dorms to repair the damage to the electrical cables and structures his virus had caused. All of this had taken a toll on him, and he had barely had any time to rest at all. Nothing, however, and he meant _nothing_, was going to stop him from spending the next two days in his version of heaven.

Needless to say, the inventor was looking forward to a relaxing weekend with his girl – a weekend with her that had almost not happened at all. The image of finding her beat up body, face down on a beach was still haunting him, as were the memories of bringing her to a hospital where he had demanded to be present in the room when the doctors had begun caring for her. With every piece of embedded metal he had helped remove from her skin, the more he swore Pepper would never put on another goddamned suit ever again.

And then he had seen the piece of metal still in the helmet…

And had watched the recording of the fight straight from the suit's camera feed…

That had settled it for him…or so he had thought.

Then he had thought about the worsened odds of leaving Pepper with no protection at all. If she had barely survived the explosion with the suit on, she would have definitely died if she had not had it all. Then again, if she had not had a suit she would have not run into danger like that…right?

Tony had sighed and had shaken his head. Pepper would have still gone to help, suit or no suit, just as she had when Happy was stuck in Gene's building with Unicorn and Killer Shrike despite his orders to stay behind. Like the ginger had once said before, California was a long way from Massachusetts, and Tony would not always be around to drag her body from a beach to a hospital...or scare off potential suitors that could not take a hint. The inventor's decision of whether or not to rebuild Rescue had been going nowhere, _fast_.

And then his dad had interjected, and while Tony had been grateful that Howard had helped his son find a hospital for the redhead, he had not seen it coming that his own father would demand the genius built another suit for the girl even after seeing how much damage Pepper had sustained. Howard, in all his fatherhood wisdom, had brought up a rather convicting argument; one that Tony had not thought about before: Would it be wise for the girlfriend of Tony Stark to be left to her own devices?

At first, Tony had thought that being the love interest of a superhero was the worst thing he could have done to Pepper, but the more he thought about his father's words, being the love interest of a sought-after, genius billionaire was much worse. Even though super villains would try to take him on by attacking her, Pepper knew how to defend herself and it would make potential bad guys think twice about trying to kidnap the girl who took on alien hostiles –_twice_, and a terrorist on a bridge and had survived.

If worse came to worst, Rescue would only have to make sure she bought herself enough time until War Machine and Iron Man both showed up to help out – and that was not even counting S.H.I.E.L.D., Hulk or other allies they had made along the way. Other enemies, however, such as business competitors, the media, and other faceless attackers were worse because their actions would never be expected until it was too late to do anything about them. And whatever problems these kinds of faceless enemies would bring to them, they would be the kind that no amount of punches and kicks would solve for the couple.

_ "Not trusting Pepper with another suit will make her seem unreliable, weak, easily manipulated, and an easy target for normal people. Once – not if, because it will happen – everyone finds out you and Pepper are dating, and that you're as serious as I think you are, taking away her Rescue identity will only fuel the fire of people who have nothing better to do but thinking of ways to screw you guys up. You could even end up losing her, son. Is that what you want?"_

Damn his father's words!

Now that he thought about it even more, if Pepper became a target of the media, they would surely dig into their private affairs, which meant that it was very likely that his secret would be discovered sooner rather than later, and if Pepper found out from someone else what he had done…he might as well just break up with her right now.

_She'd never forgive me. I mean, she probably won't anyway, but if she finds out about it in the news...or worse…she'll…ugh. She'll dump me. She WILL dump me. Why the hell did I do that?_

As the genius flew to California, his mind went around in circles, trying to find a common ground; a balance between making Pepper another suit and keeping her safe without having to rely on it that much. Why was it so difficult? If he made her another suit, he would be taking back his promise to not give her the tools to put herself in danger again. If he did not make her a suit, he would be taking away a part of her, a part that made her who she was – just as Iron Man was part of him.

_"Where are you?"_ The e-mail message from the redhead popped up in his helmet, pulling him out of his pity party. Tony checked his map and realized he was only ten minutes away from landing on her dorm's roof. However, instead of making the redhead privy of this information, his childlike side thought of a better thing to do: lie.

_"Got stuck at the dorm longer than expected. I'll send you an e-mail when I leave. Sorry."_ He replied to her e-mail.

_"Alright. Can't wait to see you,"_ she said, and it was then that the billionaire laughed aloud, it not being lost on him how ironic and prophetic her words would become.


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The ginger walked back to her bed, soda in her hand, grabbed the remote to the television and used it to turn on the device. Now that the airheaded blonde was gone for the weekend, Pepper could finally enjoy some well-earned peace and quiet –and rest her injured leg she had to keep a secret from the meddling roommate. Ever since the flowers had arrived to the dorm and Sandra had found out that Pepper had a significant other, the irritable woman had not stopped annoying the redhead to find out who the mystery guy – or _girl_, was. In all honesty, Pepper was starting to wonder if keeping her involvement with Tony a secret was worth listening to the woman constantly yap like a Chihuahua dog.

"From a commoner to a lesbian. Nice." Pepper shook her head at the prospect of Sandra insinuating that the ginger had to be gay to be able to find someone to love, as no "respectable man," – as the blonde had put it – would ever lay eyes on a scrawny and unattractive girl as she.

_That woman needs a life_, Pepper thought and continued channel surfing. She was stretched out over her bed, with the lights off and her laptop next to her on the mattress. Every now and then her eyes would land on the device's screen to see if Tony had sent her the e-mail he said he would send when he left MIT. So far it had been an hour since his last e-mail had arrived and there had been no sign of him yet.

_I hope he's not in trouble for missing class, _the redhead mused. She then sipped on her soda before placing the cup on her nightstand by her left side, next to Tony's gift. Her eyes focused on the beautiful flower arrangement and its accompanying card, and she could not hold back a smile. In her eighteen years of life, she had never been given flowers by anyone other than family members, and most of these floral gifts had been given to her by her dad on every birthday of hers ever since she had turned thirteen.

Oddly enough, not even when she had dated Happy Hogan did the jock ever think about giving the girl flowers, chocolates, cards and such, and the boy had been the first guy she had seriously dated, despite the fact that she had only started going out with him to save face in front of Whitney Stane. She had dated Happy for a couple of months, which should have probably earned him the title of _boyfriend_, but he never called her his girlfriend, and she never truly considered him as such, either.

In fact, now that she thought about it, her experience in dating Happy and her current dating situation with Tony were completely different. Happy had been more relaxed in his approach and hardly ever tried to contact her outside of school. He had been a gentleman to her at all times, however, and had respected her in all possible aspects, but she had never felt a special connection with him. Their dates were the typical outings: dinner, movie, maybe even a stroll thru the park, but other than some hand holding that she had initiated herself – and Happy offering to walk her home after school a few times – Pepper and Happy had never actually bonded that much despite the time they had spent together.

Dating Tony Stark, however, was a whole different ball game for her and at some level for him as well, she knew. When he had dated Whitney, he had kept missing out on their dates due to his Iron Man life, and when at school he had spent more time with Rhodey and the redhead than he had spent with the rich blonde. In fact, Pepper could probably count on one hand the times that Whitney and Tony were seen together at all.

So far, Tony had been moderately attentive with her – more so than she had ever seen him be with Whitney, in fact. The redhead was slowly discovering a side of the inventor she had never known existed. One second he was still the arrogant, overly confident rich boy she had learned to deal with, and the next second he turned into this overprotective, devoted, loving young man. It was as if she was dating two completely different people, but for some reason she loved them both equally. The ginger had to wonder, however, if he also saw two different people within her.

_Tony_, the girl thought about the troubled boy and stared down at her leg. She had to change her bandages every day for the next two weeks, and then by the third week she would have to let it air so it would heal better and faster. She had already resigned herself to having a battle scar where the burn mark was, but she knew that as soon as Sandra saw that her roommate was further "imperfect," she would have to deal with her constant teasing until the end of the year.

_I should've just let Tony prank the hell out of her,_ Pepper thought bitterly as she changed the channel and landed on a news report about her mission. She raised the volume to hear the details of the aftermath, and smiled when everything she heard about Rescue was glory and praise.

"_You can tell that Rescue has been trained by Iron Man,"_ one of the saved victims said to the reporter in a recorded interview. _"She really knows how to handle that suit. If it wasn't for her quick thinking, I'd be toast now."_

Pepper took another sip of her drink, shamelessly basking in the commendations she was receiving from the witnesses, and as she was putting down the glass on the nightstand again she heard a knock on the door. The redhead's eyes landed on the laptop screen but there were no new e-mails, so she shrugged, stood up and walked over to the door.

She closed one eye and stared through the peephole but did not see anyone outside; the occurrence, however, was not new to her. Last time this had happened, the RA on schedule had left a package from her father to Pepper on the floor, so figuring it was happening again, the redhead unlocked the door and opened it up. As expected, a small package was on the floor on the right side of the entrance against the wall, so she stepped out and picked it up.

She then looked from side to side to see if she could catch the RA to thank her, but when she realized it was just her in the hall, she shrugged and returned to her dorm room.

Once inside and after locking the door, she began unwrapping the small package that was actually addressed to her. She sat on the edge of the bed next to her nightstand, turned on the lamp, and examined the unmarked white box that she had unveiled. She then pulled the top cover off the box and frowned when she saw that inside there was a small cylindrical container with the logo of a tiger on it.

"What the hell is this?" She took out the card underneath it, unfolded it, read it and smiled.

"_It will help your burn heal faster. Love, Dad."_

"Aww!"

She stood up from the bed and walked over to the side of it where her closet lay. She had hid the supplies for her leg from Sandra inside it in a plastic box, and after digging for it in the back she took it out. She then laid it on the bed and put the balm container inside one of the available compartments and returned the box to the closet. Consequently, she stretched her arms above her head and yawned. Her eyes landed on her left wrist to check the time, and then she stared at her still inactive e-mail inbox and she frowned.

"Where the hell is he?"

A loud explosion sound coming from the television made her head snap up to watch a slow motion repetition of the moment the bombs had gone off on the bridge. Pepper walked closer to the television and narrowed her eyes as she watched and heard the commentary of the expert on the show.

"_Yesterday afternoon, Iron Man issued a written statement to the press that Rescue was alive and well, but the fact that she has not shown herself since the day of the attacks leaves us wondering if she really did make it out unscathed. I mean, look at this footage! We all know Tony Stark builds great stuff, but even his tech has its limits."_

Pepper's shoulders deflated at hearing the familiar argument about limits, and she sat on the foot of the bed to observe the rest of the analysis of the fight. The footage on television continued to show the details of the attack and she nearly gasped when she saw the moment the metal tube Tony had mentioned to her was seeing flying toward her. The video had to be slowed down considerably in order to see the projectile aiming at her, and she did not even remember seeing it coming at all when the fight was live.

"_Clearly,"_ the expert on television continued_, "Rescue saved a lot of lives here, but I have to question her ability to pull this stunt again. This time she was lucky her tactic worked, but what about the next time? I bet you a million dollars that Tony Stark – Iron Man, would've ended this quicker by simply snatching the trigger off the madman with his repulsor ray."_

"Oh, shut up!" The redhead spat and changed the channel. "What do you know?" she mumbled as she searched for something else to watch – anything else, and landed on a random movie. "Stupid expert," she groaned.

She tapped her knees with her fingers and her face turned to her right, staring deeply at the closed entrance door. It was not like Tony to just leave her hanging, especially after how much he claimed he was looking forward to spending the weekend together, so her annoyance with him for not reaching out to her just yet quickly turned into anxiousness when it dawned on her that maybe there was more than what he had said to her.

_What if he went on a dangerous mission and he didn't tell me?_

Karma had a terrible way of showing its ugly face.

"Dammit, Stark!" Pepper shouted and grabbed her laptop. She placed the device on her lap while still sitting by the foot of the bed and began composing an e-mail to the inventor. Her fingers flew over the keyboard and before she was to press send, she heard someone scream.

She nearly jumped out of her skin and almost dropped her laptop but she managed to catch it just in time. Her eyes followed the noise and landed on the television to watch a girl in a skimpy outfit being stabbed by a masked man. "What the hell is that?" Pepper rolled her eyes. "That's what you get for running through the woods with no shoes!" The redhead pointed an accusing finger to the woman on TV.

"Anyway," her gaze then reverted to the laptop's screen for a moment to send the e-mail to Tony before she put the device away from her lap and back on the bed, and returned her attention to the movie. She slowly slid the rest of her body onto the mattress and dragged herself up to the wall, her eyes never leaving the grotesque scene on display. When she finally reached her nightstand again she turned to her left to grab her soda only to find it gone.

"Where'd it go?" she mumbled to herself and her head moved from side to side until she saw the glass lying on the window sill on the opposite side of the room. The ginger frowned and got up from the mattress, walked around Sandra's bed to the window, and stared down at her drink. "How did you get here?"

She remained quiet as if expecting the glass of soda to actually respond to her question and when she realized she was acting silly, she shook her head, grabbed the glass and returned to bed. "What's the matter with you, Potts," she told herself. "Get it together," she added before taking another sip of her drink and left it on the nightstand once more.

On the screen, the madman was now chasing after a group of men with an axe, his intentions to end their lives was quite obvious. Pepper bit her thumbnail as she waited for what she knew was the fate of the idiotic frat boys on television, but right before the murder weapon came down on them, the television turned off.

"What the hell?" The ginger spat and her hand reached over for the remote she had left on the bed by her right side only to find it gone. She then stood up from the bed and patted herself and the bed, trying to find the darned device. When her search proved unsuccessful in the vicinity of her position, she began walking around the dorm room, turning on the television by hand when she walked by it, and after a few turns here and there, she finally spotted the remote control on the same window sill the soda glass had been.

The girl tilted her head to the side as she walked over to the window and picked up the remote. "Did I leave you here when I came to get the glass, huh?"

Truthfully, she could not recall.

Shrugging and shaking her head she returned to her position on the bed, remote in hand. She watched as the murderer on television now walked back to the cabin where the rest of the victims awaited their death, and she made a mental note to never ever go on a camping trip in the middle of the woods. Her hand then reached over to her nightstand to grab her soda but it was gone again.

"What in the wretched name of a motherf - AHH!" The ginger did not finish her question when a loud bang was heard near her. At first she thought the noise had come from the movie, but when she heard it again and louder this time, she realized it had come from her own door.

_Calm down, Pepper_, she told herself and exhaled. _No need to get jumpy, it's probably the RA coming back to make sure I got the package._

She took a deep breath and got up from the bed. Her steps toward the door were short and slow, and inadvertently she had grabbed the remote in her hands in the same fashion she would have a baseball bat – just in case. Once she reached the door and looked through the peephole to find no one standing behind the door. She bit her bottom lip, rested her left hand on the doorknob and slowly turned it around.

The door creaked loudly when she pushed it back to open it, and she then peeked outside with just her head. She looked from left to right, and when she confirmed there was neither a package nor a person around, she tiptoed back into the room. When she closed the door again, she dropped the remote on the floor when she became startled by the sink's faucet turning on.

"Jesus!" she said and bent over to lift the remote from the ground before she walked inside the bathroom. She eyed the still running faucet with suspicious eyes before she poked it with the remote she still held in her hands. She tried this strategy a few more times, and when the faucet continued to waste water, the redhead groaned and turned the knob to shut it off.

She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply, wondering if she was starting to see things that were not really there. Her eyes then shifted from the sink to the door, and she wondered if the closing of the door had caused the faucet to turn on.

"Let's test that, alright?" she said to no one and walked over to the front door. With her eyes still staring at the faucet, the redhead unlocked, and opened and closed the door several times, attempting to recreate the move that she believed had caused the sink to turn on again. When it did not happen, Pepper snorted and locked the front door once more. "You're not thinking right. I need to chill out."

She returned to the bathroom to grab the remote from the bathroom sink counter. She then kneeled on the floor and eyed the plumbing underneath the sink, poking it with the remote as she had done so with the faucet itself. When nothing she did triggered the sink to run on its own, Pepper stood up in place and nearly tripped on her own feet when she saw that the glass of soda had appeared on the counter. "Oh, my _GOD_! How the hell did you get here, huh?" she yelled and pointed at the cup with the remote in her hands. "I…you…no…no…"

She shook her head and ran out of the bathroom, slamming the door to it with as much force as she could, and then resting her back against the door. It took her a few moments to realize the dorm room was now eerily quiet, and when she faced the television she saw it was off once more. "No biggie," she began as she gulped and walked over to the television to turn it on again. "It's probably just the power failing…there…are…no such things…as…g-g-g-hosts…"

Then again, she _did_ know of a guy that went by that name, and if he was around, she was in deep trouble.

_Please don't let it be him, please, please…Oh, my gosh! What if Tony was late because he was fighting Ghost? What if he defeated Tony and somehow found out I'm here._

The ginger cursed under her breath at the lack of available armor, and at the fact that she was terrified. She slowly walked back to the bed and slid under the covers, bringing them up to her chin and holding them there with her trembling hands. Her eyes shifted left and right, eyeing everything around her, and when nothing out of the ordinary happened again, she allowed herself to relax a little.

"You're acting silly…just…calm down and everything is going to be…oh…my…_God_!"

Before her and above the ground she saw her glass of soda, literally floating in midair coming from the hall that led to the exit. With wide eyes and the hairs on the back of her neck standing, the ginger's mouth hung and her eyes followed the path of the floating glass as it began coming closer to her. Just a few feet before the glass reached her nightstand, the girl had had enough.

"AAAHHH!"

She stood up from the bed, grabbed a pillow and threw it at the glass before she sped down the hall and into the front door. Her hands surrounded the knob and she turned it, but no matter how hard she pulled on the door, it would not budge. The volume of the television suddenly rose up, scaring her even more and causing her to slam her back against the door. The glass was coming near her again, and this time it was doing so much faster. She yelped and ran toward the bathroom, and from his vantage point, a stealth-mode Iron Man began to laugh aloud.

He finally placed the glass on the same table the television was being held on before he began walking over to the bathroom, practically bending over in laughter, to let his girlfriend know it had just been a prank on his part. The scientist, however, should have made his presence known beforehand, and he would have avoided what happened next.

"YOU'RE NOT TAKING ME ALIVE!" From the bathroom emerged Pepper, toilet plunger in hand, maneuvering it in every direction she could. Her eyes were closed but her aim was still impeccable, and one of her hits landed on Tony's exposed face as he had already removed his suit and had retracted it to its backpack form.

"Oh, SHIT! Pepper! OW!" The ginger heard his familiar voice and then a loud thud and it took her a second to stop her attack on the up-to-now unknown assailant even though he was down on the floor. Her eyes then opened wide when she realized who it was she had hit, and in her shock she let go of the plunger in her hands to cover her face, but the wooden plunger did not fall on the floor.

It fell on Tony's crotch.

"Ugh!" the inventor rolled over to his side and moaned, all the while Pepper remained standing near him, trying to process what she had just done.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"This is what you get for scaring the crap out of me," she told her boyfriend as she cleaned off the blood on his busted right eyebrow with a cotton swab damped with alcohol while he sat on the foot of her bed. With his left hand Tony held a bag of ice to his quickly darkening left eye on his tilted back head, and with his right hand he held another bag of ice on his crotch. "Next time I'll use a baseball bat, Stark."

"This FELT like a baseball bat," he argued and pointed to the abandoned and broken plunger on the floor. "I so hope you washed that thing before you hit me with it."

"Does it matter? You broke it, anyway," she spat back before she pulled away from him and dumped the used swab in the closest trashcan. "Now that I think about it, I should've just dunked the damned thing in the toilet first before I attacked you with it. You deserved it."

"I didn't think you were so easy to scare, Pepper. And I definitely didn't think you'd make a plunger a near-lethal weapon," he pointed out and pulled the bag of ice from his face. The ginger sighed loudly and pressed the bag back onto his eye, causing the inventor to whine again.

"Leave it there or it will get worse," she ordered him. "How the hell did you get in here, anyway?"

"The package," he began as he slowly leaned down to rest his back on the bed. "Your dad knows I'm visiting you today, so he sent the balm with me."

"Today?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. "Are you not staying the weekend after all?"

"No, I'm staying." He responded. "I just didn't want to let them know I'm staying in here with you in your dorm."

"Tony, your dad has a Ph.D. and my dad is an FBI agent. AND they saw you looking _up_ my hospital gown. I think they'll figure it out."

"I wasn't looking up _anything_, Pepper," he growled. "My eyes were fixed on your wound," he added before he shrugged. "Anyway, they might not feel as offended when they see what you did to me. They'll know you'll keep me in line."

Pepper rolled her eyes and climbed onto the bed with him, resting on her left side to look down at the scientist. Both of his eyes were closed now and if it was not for the fact that the hand that had been holding the ice bag on his lower body was now searching for hers, Pepper would have thought he had instantly fallen asleep.

She aided the inventor in his quest by lacing her fingers with his, and he immediately took her hand to his lips and kissed it lightly before speaking again. "Other than the aggressive welcome, I'm glad to be here, Pep."

"It wouldn't have been aggressive if you had announced yourself like any normal person would."

"I couldn't announce myself," he argued. "I used the stealth mode so that no one knows I'm here."

"You mean you didn't think to just _hack_ the cameras with Extremis?"

"Aw, crap!" Tony said when he realized that Pepper's recommendation would have been much easier on him, and his groaning caused the ginger to laugh aloud. "Well," he continued, "this is one of the stories that we can tell the grandkids, right? 'Hey, kids! Remember the time Grandma beat the shit out of me with a plunger?' He-he."

When Pepper did not say anything to Tony's response and her hand in his went rigid, Tony opened up his one good eye and looked up at her shocked face. He furrowed his brow when she stared blankly at him, his face denoting how confused he was with her reaction. "What?"

Pepper pulled away from him to sit up on the bed and stared at anything else but him, feeling her cheeks were staring to burn. "Nothing."

"What do you mean 'nothing'? Did I say something wrong?" He asked and sat up in bed, still holding the ice bag to his eye and stared at her back. "Pepper, did I insult you? What did I say?"

"You…uhm…you said…_grandkids_," she said the last word in a near whisper.

Tony's eye looked up to the ceiling as he recalled what he had just said, and it was then his turn to blush. "Uh…yeah…I…I guess I did…" he cleared his throat. "Does that…does it bother you?" He asked sheepishly.

"No," she responded almost immediately but could not face him just yet. "It just…it surprised me."

"Oh," Tony looked away from her back and down at his lap as he almost mechanically removed the bags from his body and stood up. He walked in front of the crestfallen redhead and headed over to the bathroom. He left the small bags in the sink for the ice to melt before he returned to the main room again. Pepper had stood up from the bed by now, and she was cleaning up after the mess she had made.

"Here, let me help you," he said and bent over to pick up the pillows and blankets the ginger had tossed onto the floor in her efforts to escape the _invisible threat_ that had scared her. Pepper did not reject his help but she did frown when she saw his eye was swelling up.

"I'm sorry, Tony," she told him and cupped his face in her hands. The inventor smiled down at her and held her hands in place with his own before he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"It'll be gone tomorrow, you'll see."

"Extremis?"

"Yup. Besides, I kinda had it coming, right?"

"A little, yeah."

"Then don't sweat it, Pep. I'm not mad. I'm just happy to be here with you."

"I'm happy that you're here, too," she whispered to him. There was a short moment of silence between them, and with every spark of admiration that Pepper showed in her eyes, the more Tony felt like a traitor of her trust as he remembered his lie to her. He finally broke eye contact with the girl and sighed. "There's more stuff your dad sent over with me for your leg. Where do you want me to put it?"

"Oh, in here," she said and walked over to the closet to bring out the box of medical supplies. "I had to hide it from the witch. I think she's been going through my stuff."

"Why do you think that?" he asked from his position by Sandra's bed where he had laid his gym bag.

"Because she's been going through my stuff," she repeated with a smirk. "I loved the flowers, by the way, but it just gave her another reason to annoy me."

"Aw, man!" The inventor whined as he took out the other supplies from his bag. "I'm sorry, Pep."

"Meh," she shrugged and walked over to him to grab the supplies from his hands. "She'll find out sooner or later, right? Besides, she has no idea it is you that I'm going out with. She thinks you're a one-eyed, crippled hunchback."

"A one-eyed, crippled hunchback, huh? Well, I'm kinda like that right now, aren't I?" he pointed to his black eye with a chuckle that turned into a loud laugh when Pepper joined in. She continued to giggle while she put away the box back inside the closet, and when she turned around, she frowned at the boy.

"Is that my new pod?"

A couple of feet away from her, Tony held out in his hands the replacement for her destroyed device to her. The girl grabbed it slowly and with a thankful smile but when she looked down at the opened screen, she gasped. "This…this is… Is this…?"

"The preliminary schematics for the Stark Solutions X-51 Stealth Infiltrator Armor, version 2.0.," he said with a reluctant shrug. "A.K.A. Rescue: Mark II."

"But…but…I thought you said…"

"I did," he confirmed. "And I'm still against it, but I can't just leave you without any defense, now can I? The city knows you're here, and they'll expect you to show up from time to time to save the day. Besides, I'd be an idiot if I left my girlfriend without something to keep her safe when I'm not around…or when assholes push her to use the stealth feature of the armor to hide from them."

It took Pepper a second to understand what he had just said, but when she did she nearly dropped the phone. "Tony…I…I can explain. Greg, he…"

"Is up to no good," he deadpanned. "I don't know everything that happened, but whatever I saw on the helmet's recorded feed when I was reviewing the usage logs of the suit, I definitely didn't like it. Why didn't you tell me someone was chasing after you?"

"I…it's like this…Tony, he…uhm…well…" she sighed and looked down. "Look, let's sit down for this, alright?"

Tony nodded to her and followed her lead to the bed. The two teens sat side by side with their backs against the wall by the head of her bed; Pepper's left shoulder faced her nightstand, and Tony's right shoulder faced her closet. Tony, for the most part, listened patiently and wordlessly as Pepper relayed the story of how she had met Greg, and how and why she had ended up going to the fight at the bridge with a half-drained suit of armor.

Throughout the story-telling, Tony had taken out his new pod and had begun taking notes on the preliminary schematics of the new Rescue armor, making sure to adjust some of the features to be of further assistance to the new situation the redhead was encountering in school. Every now and then the inventor would stop her to ask a few questions, and when he got his answers his head would come down again to his pod to modify the diagrams of the suit.

"So, this morning," she continued with her story. "I went down to the Dean of Students office to submit a report about the incident, just in case, you know? And it turns out that Greg does come to Berkeley, but he's not enrolled in my calculus class. Heck, he's not even going for the same major as I am; he's going for Kinesiology Sciences – his classes are not even on this side of the campus, and neither is his dorm building."

"I see," the inventor said and continued using his pod to gather information about the man. It had not been difficult to find him with the video of his face and an analysis of his voice Tony had extracted from the logs. In just a few seconds the blue-eyed boy had the entire life of this man in his hands – address and all, and he was trying his best to not leave Pepper this very instant to go have a serious talk with the jock. "If he tries to approach you again…"

"You'll do nothing," she said in a serious tone and stared to her right to look him directly in his eyes. "I can handle this. He's not a terrorist; I can put a stop to whatever it is that he is trying to do, and you don't have to get involved."

Tony flared his nostrils, looked away from her gaze, and his eyes landed on her bandaged leg. He stared at it without saying a word until he felt Pepper's left hand land on the right side of his face, making him stare at her pleading eyes again. "You don't have to intervene every time something doesn't go as planned, Tony. It's not your job to try to fix my life when it gets screwed up; shit happens. I'm not your friend or dating you just so that everything is easier for me. I'm with you because I want to be; because I love you just the way you are, and I hope you love me just the way I am, too."

Even though her words were meant to comfort him, they only pushed the corroded blade of guiltiness deeper within him. He knew that even if he had not made that stupid mistake months ago, the subsequent events would have still unfolded in the same way they had so far. He would have not done anything different if given the opportunity. He would have still been by her side, and his heart would have still beaten faster when she was with him. His hands would still itch to touch her, and his lips would have still craved to taste her own. He would have still told her he loved her, and he would have still done anything in his power to keep her safe.

Nevertheless, he was also agonizingly aware that once his redhead found out the truth about what he had done, none of it would matter to her. She would become insanely upset at him despite what they had lived through together. She would surely yell at him in the same way he had yelled at her at the hospital, and she would be 100% entitled to do so – even more so than he had. He could only hope that after her rage befell upon him, and after she realized that he was incredibly remorseful for what he had done, that she would still forgive him in the end, and that she would still stay by his side…

…just as she always did despite his incredibly stupid deeds.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

As Tony had expected, the bruises on his face were completely gone the next morning; it was as if Pepper had never tried to beat him a new face. Glad for the quick recovery, the ginger had suggested they go out to the mall. The genius had been reluctant to be her bags-and-boxes chaperone, but in the end he had agreed to go if only to spend time with her. He knew he owed Pepper some quality time after yelling at her and then scaring her, so he shut his mouth and allowed himself to be dragged to the shopping center and wherever else she wanted to go.

Needless to say, letting her take the lead of the day's activities had been the best decision he would make today.

Four hours after leaving the dorm, the redhead and the inventor had walked in the park, hand-in-hand, as if nothing else in the world mattered to them. They had ridden a canoe, eaten popcorn, played in the swings, and had even laid on the grass for an hour, watching the skies and giving names to the clouds above them based on their shapes. Towards the end of the day and after having dinner at a pizza parlor, the two teens had returned to the dorm room. Tony had had to use the stealth mode of the armor so that no one saw him come inside the building at all. The couple had been drenched in sweat, dirt, sand and grass due to their day-long date, so they decided a shower was definitely in order.

Pepper had showered first, but not before making sure the genius did not try to sneak in a peek using the armor. Tony has sounded genuinely insulted by the insinuation, and had even pouted the entire time Pepper had been in the bath. Half an hour later, it had been Tony's turn to shower, and currently the redhead stared down at her watch, wondering what the hell was taking the boy so long to come out to the main room. She knew Tony was very particular about the way he looked, but she doubted an hour was needed for him to shower, shave and dress for the night.

The ginger had also gotten ready to rest for the remainder of the day, opting to wear her shorts and tank top pajama set, one in which Tony had already seen her before after the Makluan invasion. That night after they had all gone home, Tony had surprised her by visiting her in her apartment in the middle of the night. His excuse had been that he had not made sure she and Rhodey were alright, and that he was just checking up on them. At the time, Pepper had found it strange that Tony simply landed at her doorstep – or window, in the middle of the night, but now in retrospect, the girl knew that Tony had just chickened out of telling her how he felt about her.

Pepper stretched her legs and arms and rearranged her position on the full-sized bed. She was lying above the covers, on her right side and hugging a pillow under her head, and while her eyes were glued to the television in front of her – no scary movies tonight – her mind was tinkering with the possibility of walking up to the restroom and finding out why the heck was Tony taking so long to come out.

_He better not be preparing another prank_. She narrowed her eyes at the thought but quickly dismissed it knowing the inventor had learned his lesson. Besides, he was as tired as she was, and in all honestly they truly just wanted to snuggle and pass out for the night.

The girl changed the channel again to a romantic comedy she knew Tony would gag about, but so far she had been able to get away with doing whatever she wanted to do, possibly due to the fact that the inventor felt like crap after scaring her so badly the day before.

Pepper allowed for fifteen more minutes to go by, but when Tony still did not come out of the bathroom, the redhead's patience ran out. She scooted over to the edge of the bed and stood up from it, heading directly to the closed door of the bathroom. She stood silently in front of it for a minute to see if she heard signs that Tony was almost done, but when all she heard was silence, she decided to knock on the door, and loudly at that.

"Stark, what the hell are you doing in there? Are you coming out sometime this year?"

_ "Yeah, I am…but…I…I can't right now," _came the muffled response from the other side of the door.

Pepper frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "What do you mean you can't?"

_"I…uhm…" _The sound of random shuffling was heard coming from the bathroom_. "Pep, can you do me a favor?"_

Hearing how much the genius was struggling with his words, Pepper suddenly became worried. Had he slipped in the shower? Had he hurt himself somehow? What was he hiding from her?

"Are you alright, Tony? Is everything OK?"

_"Yeah, everything's fine. It's just…I…could you…could you bring me my bag?"_

"Your bag?" she was taken aback. "Your armor or your luggage?"

_ "My luggage."_

"Yeah, I can," she responded to him and walked over to Sandra's bed to collect the gym bag. She then smirked at the idea that had just occurred to her when she saw his change of clothes was still inside the bag and realized what the inventor's current predicament was. _Payback's a bitch, Stark._

The redhead practically skipped her way back to the bathroom door, grabbed her pod from the bed on the way there, and knocked on the door again to get the boy's attention. "Here it is. Did you _forget_ something?"

_ "What? No, no, of course not. I just…I changed my mind about what I want to wear."_

"Did you, huh?" She smiled wider now that her suspicions had been confirmed.

_"Yeah. Can you leave the bag by the door?"_

"Already is," she lied before she took out her pod, pushed out the small lock picking device inside it and unlocked the door. She slowly and quietly pushed the door open, gym bag held tightly behind her back, took a deep breath and then screamed. "BOO!"

"AAAHHH!" Screamed a nude inventor who barely had time to pull the shower curtain onto himself to partially cover his lower body. His left hand found his chest and he covered it as he panted to recover his wits. "What the _hell_, Pepper? Get out!"

The redhead was bent over in laughter, pointing a finger at the rather embarrassed genius while she dangled the gym bag in front of her. "Did someone forget his clean underwear?"

"Pepper! It's not funny! Leave my bag there and get out!"

"Oh, not a fan of pranking people? You sure loved scaring me yesterday," she spat.

"What? Oh, man!" he rolled his eyes. "I said I was sorry! Want me to say it again so you can leave? I'm sorry, alright? I'm very, _very_ sorry!"

Pepper pretended to pout. "You want me to leave?"

"Yes, please."

"Are you sure?" She tilted her head at him.

"Absolutely." Tony nodded and held the shower curtain even tighter.

"Oh, OK," she shrugged. "But I'm taking the bag with me."

"What?!" He leaned forward a little. "NO! Come back, Pepper! PLEASE!"

"Changed your mind?" She teased.

"Ugh! Come on, Pep. It's embarrassing. OK, I forgot my clothes, I admit it. I didn't want to put on the dirty ones again because…well…they're dirty. And I didn't want to walk out there naked, so I hoped that you'd pass out or something so I could come out, but you didn't. I screwed up, alright? Happy now?"

"Naked? Stark, there are plenty of towels in here."

"What, those?" He angrily pointed to them. "They have flower patterns! And those over there have puppies on them!"

"So? They're just towels."

"They're girl towels!"

"So, you're saying that you'd rather be naked than to cover yourself with my girly towels?"

"I'd rather have my pants on. Can I _please_ have them now?"

"You're pathetic, Tony."

"Yes, I'm pathetic, and embarrassed, and I think you've gotten your fun. Can you please just hand me my bag?"

The redhead chuckled and again dangled the gym bag near the inventor. Tony tried grabbing it a few times but the shower curtain had only so much reach, limiting his ability to snatch the item from the smiling girl. "I think puppies are a good look on you."

"PEPPER!"

"Oh, alright!" The redhead rolled her eyes again. "Here," she said as she walked closer to him to hand him the bag, but her bare feet slipped on the moisture the hot bath had left behind on the floor tiles, causing her to fall on her back and the bag to spill its contents all over the place.

"Jesus! Pepper, are you alright?"

"Hurt my butt, but so worth it!" The ginger groaned and chuckled at the same time before she slowly lifted her back from the floor. She had strained her injured leg a little bit with the fall, so she remained sitting on the floor while the pain went away. Tony took advantage of this and grabbed the closest pair of boxers he could find, struggling to put them on while still standing behind the shower curtain.

His pajama pants were near the redhead, and as she began to pick up the clothes and was about to tease him some more about his partial nudity, something _red_ and _shiny _caught the eye of the ginger.

"What is this?" she asked and picked up the garment from the floor.

"What is what?" Tony asked as he debated whether to remain behind the curtain or resign himself to cover his lower body with a flower-patterned towel in front of his girlfriend.

"Is this a…_thong_?"

"What?" The genius's head snapped to face the girl, and his eyes grew wide when Pepper grabbed the item by its edges and held it up.

"Who is Margie?"

"Uh…"

Pepper then noticed the cursive writing on the item and frowned even more. "Why does she want you to call her?"

"Uh…I…Pepper…I can explain…"

"Can you?" Pepper asked and threw the thong toward Tony while she got up from the floor. The red pair hit him in the face before they fell to the floor, and Tony did not even bother to try to catch the offensive undergarment when they landed by his feet.

"Are you cheating on me?" The upset girl asked.

"WHAT? Pepper, no! I…I don't know how these got in there!"

"Clearly, _Margie_ had enough time around your bag to put them in there for you." She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Pepper, I know how it looks like but, I don't know any Margie. I don't want to know who Margie is…I don't even like this pair! I…I just want my pants. Can you hand then to me?"

Pepper narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend, bent over to pick up the pajama pants by her feet and threw it at him before storming out of the room.

"Pepper, wait! Let me explain!" The boy yelled after her while he haphazardly picked up his clothes from the floor and dug them inside the bag, not paying any mind to how they went in. "Pepper, please! It's not what you think! It's not what it looks like!"

_"It's not what I think?"_ he heard her yell from the room. The boy slid his pajama pants onto himself, closed the zipper on the bag and ran out of the bathroom to watch a pissed-off Pepper standing as far away from the genius as she could.

"How is it _not_ what I think? Did I not just hold a pair of another girl's underwear that was in _your_ gym bag? How is that not what it looks like?"

"OK, that is exactly what it looks like," he agreed and dumped the bag on the floor. "But I'm not cheating on you, Pep. I don't want to; I'd never do that to you. I…just…well…last time I washed my clothes, there were girls around. They…they were _trying _to give me their phone numbers…and I ignored them. So, then one tried to give me her bra with her phone number, and then the others followed with their underwear…"

Pepper's mouth went agape. "Girls? You mean Margie is just _one_ of them?"

"Gah, Pepper! Listen to me! They only did that because I wouldn't pay attention to them. Isn't that desperate? Shouldn't you feel sorry for them rather than getting mad? Honestly, you're blowing this out of proportion."

"_Me_, overreacting?" She pointed to her chest with her right index finger while the other hand rested on her left hip. "This coming from the guy who went off on me shortly after I had just woken up in a hospital after a near-death experience? Yeah, you'd know all about exaggerating, wouldn't you?"

"Pepper, please!" He took a step closer to her, hands in a pleading position in front of his chest. "It's just a misunderstanding. That girl's thong in my bag means nothing."

"Really? Nothing? I find that hard to believe. What would _you_ think if you went through my drawers and you found a pair of guy's boxers in there? Huh?"

Tony had to think of his answer for a minute. Between the two of them, he was the most jealous one – this situation notwithstanding. However, he highly doubted he would react in the same way his redhead was doing so right now, or so he hoped. "I'd find it odd, yes, but I wouldn't jump to conclusions."

"Yeah, right! You'd also think I'm cheating on you if you found boxers with another guy's name and his phone number written on them!"

"You're wrong. I'd never even imagine you'd cheat on me, Pep. Why would you? You couldn't… _wouldn't_ be able to do it."

"_Wouldn't _be able to do it?" she repeated and blinked repeatedly. "What's that supposed to mean? Are you saying that I wouldn't because you're rich and a little bit easier on the eye than most guys?"

"No!"

"Oh," she rested her hands on her hips. "So then you're saying I couldn't do it because no other guy would look at me, is that what it is? Because this_ commoner_ wouldn't be able to find anyone to cheat on you with? Is that it?"

"No, Pepper! I didn't say that! I just…"

"You just _what_?"

"I just…ugh!" he sighed, took in a deep breath, and shook his head. Once he felt more in control of his actions, and felt more comfortable now that he was wearing underwear and a pair of pants, he walked over to the redhead. He stopped when he was just a couple of feet away from her but did not dare to touch her just yet, and sighed.

"Look, I just…I want to think that I can…that I _am _giving you anything you may want…or need…from this relationship…from me…I think…I _hope _that you're so happy with me that you won't feel like you have to search for whatever is missing in someone else. I just meant to say that you wouldn't have a reason to cheat on me if I know I'm making you happy with what I can give you. That's all, Pepper."

Pepper's anger deflated almost immediately when she saw his sad eyes and her mind replayed his words. The inventor took her silence, however, as a sign that she was not convinced, so he continued explaining himself. "Really, Pepper, why would I think no one would want you, other than me? Look at you," he said and covered her left cheek with his hand. "Who would be stupid enough not to want to be with you? I'm lucky as hell that you'd give me a chance."

"Well, uhm…" she swallowed hard and looked away, feeling slightly embarrassed herself for thinking the worst of the genius. "I…I'm sorry, Tony. I just…I…I freaked out."

"Pepper," he pulled her to his chest to hug her. "I don't need anyone else. I just need you."

Pepper returned the hug. "You really don't like Margie?"

"Don't know her – not interested in finding out who she is."

"And the thong, you don't like it, either?"

He shrugged. "I've seen better."

"_What?_ When? Where?" Pepper pushed away from him but Tony held her close by.

"Pepper, girls have been chasing me around even before I met you."

"I know, but…" she sighed. "Never mind. I guess I'd better get used to that, right?"

"As much as I have to get used to you being checked out by Rescue's fan boys – which, by the way, you have at least _three_ of them back in MIT." He said and walked them both to lie on Pepper's bed. Pepper turned the lights off and they both scooted under the covers, and just as they had done so last night, Pepper laid on her right side, rested her head on his shoulder and traced the muscles on his chest with her fingertips. On his part, Tony surrounded Pepper's shoulders with his left arm, and with his right hand he lifted Pepper's left leg onto his stomach and absentmindedly slid his hand up and down her hip and thigh.

"So, you are making me another suit, then? For sure?"

"Yeah, I am," he groaned. "I'm making you another suit of armor, but I'm making some modifications to it, so if you want to be able to use it, you're going to have to make a deal with me."

"A deal? What kind of deal?"

"You're going to have to work out at the gym with me, every Sunday, and practice with the test armor until you're ready to put on the new one."

"What?! I can already defend myself, thank you very much."

"That's the deal, Pepper. I'm making you a heavier armor because I'm going to thicken it even more. That means your backpack is about to get _that _much heavier and you'll need to learn the new interface for it, too."

"Seriously? All because I almost got myself blown up?"

"That's part of it. You really never got to practice more with the armor when I first gave it to you. So, this is your long overdue training."

"Fine," she grumbled. "But, where are we going to train?"

"I found this guy who has a private gym in Topeka, Kansas. He's halfway between here and Massachusetts, so we'll both fly there Sunday mornings for the next three months, and if I feel that you're ready by then, you can get your new armor – call it a Christmas present, if you want. Meanwhile, you'll use the regular Stealth Armor again."

"The blue one?"

"Yup. With no extra weapons other than the repulsors and unibeam."

"Aw, man! And what if there's an emergency here in the city?"

"Do what you can but don't push it. Fury told me S.H.I.E.L.D. is building a base in L.A., so they can start tackling those rare emergencies themselves."

"That's such a downgrade, Tony."

"Only for now. I want to make sure that I do this right for you, Pepper. I'm not finding you almost dead again. I'm not going through that again."

Pepper closed her eyes and pushed her face closer to his chest, her left arm surrounding his waist. "Alright, it's a deal. I don't like it at all, but I'm holding you to it, Stark."

"I know," he kissed the top of her head before he rested his head back onto the pillow and closed his eyes. "Good night, Pepper."

"Good night, Tony."

And both teens passed out for the night.

* * *

**A/N:** Another chapter? Already? YUP! My goal this holiday weekend is to finish this story. Well, at least the English version and then translate it once done. Why? Major real-life work project coming my way. I was really wanting to make this fic last a while, but there is no time for that anymore. I hope you still like it and are still reading it even if there is no tangible feedback :) Happy Thanksgiving!


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

The inventor opened his eyes to the darkness of the early morning and yawned. It took him a moment to remember where he was, and who he was with, but once he realized his redhead was practically using him as a whole-body pillow by surrounding him from the side with her arms and legs, he smiled…

Until his bladder caught his attention.

_Oh, man_. He groaned and forced his body to wake up just enough to try to maneuver his way out of the tight grip the ginger had him in, but the more he struggled to release himself, the more Pepper clung onto him.

"Pep, I need to get up," he half-said, half-mumbled.

"Why?" she mumbled. "Where are you going?" she asked with only one eye opened.

"Bathroom," he answered with a smirk. "I'll be right back, I promise."

"Alright," she said and pulled herself from him to rest on her back. The inventor stood up and stretched his arms, yawning as he did so. He then took wobbly steps toward the bathroom and locked himself inside.

On the bed, Pepper also stretched her body before reaching over to her nightstand to grab the remote. She pointed the device to the television and turned it on, choosing to leave it on the campus' close circuit channel where they announced the daily activities and events of the university.

A couple of minutes later Tony showed up, climbed onto the bed and under the covers with her, and allowed her to return to her previous position on him. They watched the campus' announcements in silence, and when the student-led newscast cut for a commercial break, Pepper looked up to stare at Tony's face.

"Can you transfer to Berkeley?" she asked with a moan.

Tony chuckled. "Why? Not enough geniuses around here?"

"No, just mean girls," she said and pulled herself closer to him. "I like having you here."

"I like having me here, too," he answered before he moved swiftly and swapped their positions so that he was now on top of her. He secured her wrists above her head with both of his hands, and gave her a mischievous smile when she tried to free herself but he did not ease his grip on her.

"When is Sandra coming back?" he asked in a whisper before he leaned down to kiss her on the lips. Pepper responded to the kiss and when he broke it, she spoke.

"Sometime after noon," she said with closed eyes and in as steady of a voice as she could while the inventor slid his nose up and down her neck. "I think we have enough time to have breakfast before she comes by."

"Breakfast?" He asked and then moved his lips closer to her right ear. "I was hoping for something else, _besides_ breakfast."

Pepper swallowed hard when she felt his lips tracing down her neckline. "Uhm…w-what…what did you have in mind?"

Tony shifted his hands so that he still kept hers above her head with using only his left hand. His right hand then moved down to straighten out one of the shoulder straps of her tank top before it slid down from her left side down to her thigh. "Mmhh…nothing out of the ordinary. Just…I was thinking having something more along the lines of _dessert_."

"Uh…Tony…I…we…I don't think we should…uhm…"

"What?" He asked and frowned.

"Well, we…we've _just _started dating and…I know we're alone but…"

"Huh? Oh! No, not _that_, Pepper! I meant…well, _not_ that."

"Oh? OK," she sighed in relief. "Well, I guess, in that case…" she lifted her head to capture his lips and he chuckled behind the kiss. He finally let go of her hands in favor of guiding her right arm to dangle over his left shoulder, allowing his left hand to find her waist and slide under her top. His bent right arm by her head kept him above her without crushing her, and her left hand trailed his still bare back.

It now dawned on Tony that he had to leave in less than four hours, and it was just now that it had occurred to him to do this with his girl. He slapped himself mentally for not starting it sooner, and promised himself to do so earlier next time they had the chance. It was not as if this was _all_ he wanted to do when being with her, and he realized that they were probably moving too fast for have been dating for only a week today, but he attributed it to the fact that they had known each other for two years and it was making the transition that much easier for the both of them.

On the other hand, Pepper felt as if she was about to pass out in delight. Needless to say, Happy and she had never gotten close to being like this, and other than what she had seen in movies, she had no clue what she was doing or if she was doing it right. Unbeknownst to her, the inventor did not have a frame of reference either, so whatever responses she was getting from him were more than enough for the genius…for now.

Tony broke the kiss to stare at her and trail her cheek with the back of his left hand. Pepper smiled at him and slid her hands up his chest and onto to his neck. They stared at each other in silence, faces inches apart and their eyes and hands doing the talking for them, and when Tony was about to kiss her again, a loud knock on the front door startled them both.

"_Pepper Potts? Are you in there?"_

Tony narrowed his eyes in that same way he did when he was hacking into a system and Pepper immediately knew he was watching through the cameras of the hall. She then heard him growl and picked himself up from the bed, cursing as he did so. "What the hell is _he_ doing here?"

"Who?" She asked as she stood up and followed the boy to the front door. He stared through the peephole to confirm what he had seen, and then the ginger pushed him out of the way to see herself.

_"Hey, gorgeous! I know you're in there. I can hear the TV! Let me in!"_

Pepper groaned before she whispered, still staring through the peephole. "How did he find me? How did he even get in here? Guys aren't allowed past the front lobby!"

"Does it matter?" Tony asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Either way, he saved me the trouble of looking for him…I'm gonna go out there and beat the sh…"

"No," she reminded him with a frown. "I told you to stay out of it. Besides, he can't know you're here or I'm in big trouble."

_"Pepper?" _Greg knocked on the door again._ "Want to go have breakfast together? Do you like fruit? I can bring you strawberries in bed."_

"That son of a…" Tony said with a lifted fist.

"Tony, stop it," Pepper placed her hands on his chest. "Chill, alright. All we gotta do is stay quiet and he'll leave."

"Yeah, I know, but…who does he think he is? You've spoken to him one time…ONE time, and he thinks you're already close like that?"

"He's just trying to sound like he knows what he's doing. Ignore him."

_"Yo! Open up, babe! We can eat breakfast off each other, Pep!"_

"Babe? _BABE_?!" Tony spat, barely keeping his voice down. "Pep? Why the fuck is he calling you 'Pep'? Only _I_ can call you that! That's _my_ nickname!"

"Shut up, Tony!" Pepper covered his mouth with her right hand and waited. "Think of him as practice…a fan boy…even though he doesn't know I'm Rescue. This is _your _training."

"But...but…" he mumbled under her hand.

"No buts! Now shut up!"

Tony pursed his lips but kept quiet, and so did the redhead. Greg knocked on the door once more, but when he walked away and down the hall, the two teens breathed a sigh of relief.

"Asshole," Tony mumbled as he followed Pepper back to the main room. Pepper shook her head and was about to chastise him when she heard the door being unlocked.

_"Make sure you cover whatever you don't want me to see, Pepper…or uncover it, your choice. I'm coming in!"_

"Holy crap!" The redhead panicked and ran to Tony's armor backpack that rested against the wall of the entrance hall. "He has a cardkey! How did he get a cardkey? Quick, throw me your gym bag!"

Tony ran to Sandra's bed and did as told more out of not knowing what else to do. In a matter of seconds, Pepper threw the backpack armor to him and he threw his gym bag to her. They hardly had time for Pepper to hide his bag inside her closet, and for Tony to put on the armor and activate the stealth mode before Greg walked in, catching Pepper standing by her bed.

"Well, _hello_, Red." He looked her up and down. "I knew you were in here," he said and closed the door behind him before sliding the cardkey into his back pocket. "You surely know how to hide."

Pepper crossed her arms over her chest and turned her body completely so that the invisible Tony stood behind her by the window, hoping that he would not decide to jump over the bed and beat the unsuspecting jock to a pulp. "I don't know who gave you a card key to my room, and I don't think I need to remind you that you're breaking the rules by being here, but I suggest you leave before I call the RA."

"It's Sunday morning, Pepper. All RA's are in their weekly meeting…on the other side of campus," he walked closer to her. "Hell, most of the students aren't even on the building today. It's just us, and that's just fine with me."

Pepper's eyes landed on her pod that lay far away from her on her nightstand and she took casual steps toward it. "You really don't want me to call the cops, right? That'd be much worse than calling the RA's."

"Why would you do that? Aren't you happy that we see each other again?" He walked over her and trapped her between the beds. Pepper swallowed hard and shook her head to her left where she knew Tony was standing before her right hand found her pod behind her on the nightstand.

"Did you forget my dad works for the FBI? Do you really want B&E AND assault on your records, Greg?"

"Assault? It's only considered assault if it isn't consensual," he whispered to her and slid his right hand around her back before he lowered it to rest on her butt. His left arm rested against the wall behind her, and he practically cornered her between him, the nightstand and the wall. "Besides, all I want is to spend some time with you; get to know you better. Like I said before, your boyfriend won't mind, I'm sure."

Pepper's eyes snapped to the corner of the room where Tony had just turned off the stealth mode and was menacingly moving toward them. Pepper's fingers on her pod flew on the keys and by memory she pressed the sequence to activate the stealth mode of the armor and then temporarily disabled the suit altogether, leaving Tony trapped inside it to helplessly watch the scene before him.

_I'm not letting this bastard get the best of Tony! I'm not letting him blow his cover! _The redhead's narrowed eyes then returned to Greg's, and she practically snarled at him. "Get off me."

"Get off? Don't you mean _back off_? Because for me to get _off_ you, I'd first need to be _on_ you," he responded and in a quick move picked up the redhead from the floor, slammed her back against Sandra's bed and pinned her down in a similar position Tony had just had her moments ago. Just as before, Greg smiled when Pepper tried to pull her hands free, but the look on his face did not make her feel as safe as she had felt under Tony's grasp.

"Why are you making this harder than it should be?"

"I…" she squirmed under him for a moment and then stopped. "I…" she began in a whisper. "I don't know…" she said as she relaxed her body and gave the man a sultry look. "Maybe it's because I like it rough?"

Greg's smile widened even more when he saw the change in the redhead's attitude, and he pressed his body closer to hers. "There you go. I knew you'd come around. It must get lonely not having your boyfriend with you to keep you warm. What's…what's his name again?"

"His name? What does it matter now?" she asked and slid her hands off his grip when she sensed he was leaving his guard down. "Why bother to know his name? Why bother even bringing him up?"

"Well, you know," Greg said, his hands roaming down Pepper's breasts and then down her thighs. "I'd want to make sure it's my name and not his you scream in a little while."

Pepper snickered and wrapped her legs around his waist. "Well, as long as I scream 'Greg,' I think we'll be alright."

"True, but it will be that much harder to thank him without his name."

Pepper bit back her initial retort to the young man, knowing that she still was in no position to strike just yet. Instead, she pushed herself to a sitting position, straddling his lap as she did so, and surrounded his shoulders with her arms. "One thing, though," she pointed behind her with her chin. "This is my roommate's bed and I know she'll hate me if we use it. Can we go to mine? I'd feel more comfortable there."

"Whatever you said, Pep," he responded and picked her up. As he worked his way to her bed by walking backwards, Pepper leaned down to grab her pod from where it had landed, and smiled at Greg when he stared at her with questioning eyes.

"I'm going to put it on silent. Don't want to be disturbed."

Hearing this, Greg smiled even wider while he laid back on Pepper's bed so that she was now sitting on him. The redhead slid the cover open of the pod and pressed a few keys before she closed the cover again. She then leaned down to press her lips on Greg's and as the man began to melt under her, she stuck the pod on his neck by his ear and shocked the hell out of him.

The jock's body jolted a few times and when Pepper was certain the mini Sonic Disruptor of the pod had done its job, Pepper climbed off the unconscious man, wiping the back of her hand across her lips as she did so, opened up her pod and removed the stealth mode from the armor. She did not enable it again, however, as she knew exactly what Tony would do if given the chance.

Tony had been trying to hack into his own suit, but despite how much he tried, Pepper's code kept blocking him off. She stood in front him, used the pod to open the helmet, and just as she had expected, his face was one of ire.

"What the _fuck_, Pepper? I can't believe… when did you…HOW did you hack into my suit?"

"Long story. Lots of coding, and knowing your system front and back."

"Long story? Oh, you have plenty of time left! He'll be passed out for at least an hour. And why the hell did you cut me off?"

"Because I know what you were about to do and I couldn't let you do it. I told you I can take care of myself."

"Oh, I saw _that_. And here you gave me a hard time for the thong!"

"Now is _not_ the time, Tony. I'm going to do something very dishonorable to get back at him, but I need you to leave, now."

"What? You want me to leave you with this creep?"

"Yes. Trust me. You don't want to be here."

"But, Pepper! I can't just go when he just tried to…"

Pepper stopped Tony from talking further by kissing him, and despite how angry the boy was, he returned the kiss. When she finally pulled away from him she sighed loudly and walked over to the closet to grab his gym bag. She activated the stealth feature of it, and handed it to Tony at the same time she enabled the armor again.

Tony grabbed the bag and then stared at the passed out man on her bed and frowned. "Don't make me leave, Pepper."

"If you don't leave, then I'll get expelled from school. I'll call you as soon as I fix this. Today. I promise."

"Pepper…I…"

"Training, Tony. Just training."

Tony closed his eyes, wanting nothing more than to eat his damned words. Nevertheless, he leaned to her face and kissed her again before his faceplate came down. "If he tries that again…"

"He's all yours, then."

Iron Man nodded and, against his instinct, Tony activated the stealth mode feature of the armor and followed Pepper to the door. She then opened the door but remained inside, allowing Tony to leave. She waited inside the room for a few minutes until the tracker on the suit told her via the pod that Tony was truly gone, and as soon as he was out of hearing range, she screamed.


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Damn his father's words indeed. Tony had been pacing back and forth in his dorm room since he had arrived there ten hours ago, waiting for any sign that Pepper was alright – any text or email or message that would tell him that her plan had worked, and that he had not been found out.

With every step he took and every new second that passed he hated himself even more. His father had been absolutely correct: it was not the typical villains that were the worst; it was the common people that would cause the most damage to them. He had watched with his own two eyes how that bastard had manhandled her, almost taken advantage of her, and if it had not been for the weapons he had given her, she would have been in deep trouble.

_Dammit! I need to straighten out this mess with Pepper! I need to tell her what I did and get it over with! I need to just tell her and make it so that she doesn't kick my ass – too much – and then make her move back to the East Coast with me. Have her where I can watch over her all the time. Here where no one will dare touch her because I'll be right there with her._

And yet, as simple as the solution was, he could not force himself to say the words. What was he supposed to say, anyway? Sorry I mislead you? Sorry I lied to you all this time? I should have told you the truth when it happened? You should have never trusted me in the first place? I am the worst friend and boyfriend ever to walk this damned planet?

Either way, his words were not going to make a damn bit of difference. The damage was done, and there was no way to put a positive spin on the situation. In fact, the positive spin was the negative spin – that was how much he had utterly fucked up.

_Maybe I should just forget about it altogether_, he pondered. _Maybe I can deny it and remove the trail. She will never find out, and I don't even have to tell her._

Lies. They were all lies.

The inventor's pacing was finally interrupted by the sound of his pod ringing. He practically dove onto the bed to grab the device and he did not even let it ring a second time. "Pepper? Are you alright?"

_"Yes, Tony. Stop worrying. Everything went perfectly,"_ she told him with a tired sigh. _"Greg won't be bothering me again."_

"Are you sure? What took you so long? You don't sound convinced. You…you're telling me the truth, right?" He asked despite the knowledge that he was not telling her the truth himself; double standards galore.

_"Yes, Tony. I'm telling you the truth. It took some work but I made it seem as if he had broken into the room and tried to take advantage of me. I mean, that's technically what happened, but I didn't include the part where I kissed him or shocked him with the pod. I actually ended up breaking your flower vase on his head to fake the reason he had passed out."_

"Whoa, Pepper!" Tony stood up from his bed and walked over to the window of his room, right hand covering his eyes. "And they bought it?"

_"All of it. It also helped that Greg had a little bit of a buzz going. That settled it and no one believed that for a second I had agreed to sleep with him."_

"Jeez, babe," he groaned. "I…I'm so sorry this happened. I…it should've not happened. I was right there…I'm supposed to protect you."

_"And you did. You gave me the pod and it saved me. If I hadn't had the pod with me, I would've been SOL."_

Tony swallowed hard and remained quiet for an instant, knowing that giving Pepper the solution to a problem he had caused himself did not make it any better for anyone. He then removed his hand from his eyes and walked over to his bathroom. The throbbing in his head caused by not knowing what had occurred after he had left Berkeley had only been getting worse, and even now that he knew his redhead had solved the situation, the headache had just gotten much worse.

_"What about you?"_ The ginger asked. _"Are you OK? I'm sorry it took me so long to call you back. I had to fill out forms and had to answer some questions for the campus police and the RA's; stuff like that."_

"Yeah, I'm alright," he lied even though his head was now spinning. He muted the speaker on the pod and quickly swallowed two pain reliever pills. He then washed them down with a sip of water from the sink, and sat on the closed toilet, sighing loudly as he did so before his girlfriend spoke up again.

_"I know this is not the way you wanted this weekend to end, and I'm sorry, Tony. I don't know why these things are happening to me, to us. This is not how I expected us dating to turn out. I…I'd understand if you wanted to call it off. It's just too much trouble."_

Tony unmuted the line and stared down at the floor. His first instinct had been to immediately deny her claims, but even he who had lied to her for so long had nothing to say against her argument. He took in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. He then took out the wireless receiver of the pod, stuck it inside his right ear, and put away the phone in his pocket. His hands landed on his temples and he massaged them slowly, eyes closed to avoid the annoying light of the room.

"In moments like this I do want to call it off, Pep," he began, causing the redhead's heart to skip a beat, and the cold wind around her on the roof of her dorm building to chill her bones that much more. "But not because of the trouble it caused me, but to you. It's only been a week since we got together and…" he groaned. "I knew I should've known better than to tell you I love you when we're so far apart. It was so much easier for you when I wasn't in your life, wasn't it? You'd be better off without my interference, wouldn't you?" He laughed bitterly.

_"Is this your way of breaking up with me?"_

"God, no."

_ "Then what are you trying to say?"_

"I don't know," he admitted. "I'm just letting you know what's crossing my mind right now. I'm not making a decision, or asking you to make one yourself."

_ "It sounds an awful lot like a breakup to me."_

"It isn't. That's the last thing on my mind. I just…I don't know how to deal with the guilt, Pepper." He told her, unbeknownst to her that his guilt was not just about the events of the day.

_"Maybe we should stick to not seeing each other that often. I mean, most long-distance couples see each other once a month, at most. I know we can fly back and forth in less than an hour, but that doesn't mean that we should."_

"But, Pepper, I want…I _need_ to see you."

_"And you will. Just…let's stick to the Sunday trainings for now. Greg won't be a problem, and neither will Rescue, right? I mean, I'm banned from superhero business until next year, right?"_

"I wouldn't say _banned_. Banned is such a strong word."

_"That's what it is, Stark. Don't start sugar coating things for me. You've never done it before; don't start now."_

_Too late_, he thought and sighed before pushing his feelings of lousiness to the back of his mind. "Alright. Sundays in Topeka it is. I just…I wish this had not ended like it did. Maybe that's what the problem is for me. It was cut short – I wasn't ready to leave."

"_I didn't __**want **__you to leave. My bed…it feels so big now."_

He smiled. It was moments like this that gave the inventor hope that she would forgive him. It was moments like this that made him feel as if everything was going to be alright between them in the end because she seemed to need him as much as he did her. "I didn't get my fill of you for the week; either," he began, an impish thought crossing his mind. "You're gonna have to send me a thong of yours to hold me up, Potts." He chuckled and Pepper laughed aloud.

_"Well, for what it's worth, when you weren't scaring me or hiding another girl's underwear from me, I really, really, really loved that you were here."_

Despite the pain of remorse in his chest, he smiled wider. "And I really, really, _really _love you, Pepper Potts."

xxxXXXxxx

Pepper closed her eyes and bit her tongue to not squeal like the fan girl she felt like at the moment at hearing Tony tell her how he felt. She had heard it before, on this same roof a week ago in fact, but that did not make it any less significant to her. The past few days had been so chaotic for the both of them, and she was certain that if it was not for his verbal and physical affections toward her she would have already jumped off the building days ago.

"I love you too, Tony," she whispered to him. "But, I have to go now."

_"Again? Could you, like, not tell me that you love me just to hang up on me?"_

"You're the one who said it first."

_"Yes, but…oh, alright. But, I have one more thing to ask."_

"What is it?"

_ "Where are we on the whole thong thing?"_

"TONY!"

_"What? I'm dead serious, Pep. Think about it as a way to repel all other thongs in the world. Besides, I'd also need to replace the washcloth I use after I shave."_

"Oh, my GOD! What's wrong with you?"

_"Nothing's wrong with me. I'm making a perfectly sane request. I'm your boyfriend; you're my girl. It's only fair that I have something personal of yours."_

"Are you joking? I didn't know you were so lewd, Stark."

_"Lewd? Well that's insulting, and hypocritical of you, too. I saw you checking me out when I was there. You liked what you saw, don't deny it."_

"I wasn't…I…well…"

_"Yeah-huh,"_ he said. _"We'll talk about it later."_

"I'm sure we will; I just won't listen," she jested. "Anyway, I really have to go now. I'm sure Sandra is dying to tell me everything about her romantic weekend with Tony Stark."

_"And you can't wait to hear her talk her lies? Really?"_

"I'm just curious as to what story she's gonna come up with. I'll let you know later."

_"Wow, that girl's something else. Well, in that case, try not to laugh in her face just yet. I want to be there when she finds out we knew she was lying all along."_

"Tell me about it. She should know that lies never remain hidden forever, and when they come out…Well, she should be happy I already know she's lying to me. She wouldn't want to see me find out after the fact."

Tony gulped_. "Yeah, she…she should know better."_

"She will. Good night, Tony."

_"Good night, Pep."_

And after the line went dead, the redhead took in a deep breath and marched down the stairs to her room to hear the bundle of lies the blonde had concocted for her.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Despite how sad she felt that her calculus professor had come down with a cold, she could not help but feel happy that she had the day off. After how horrible things had been when Tony had left three days ago, she knew she owed the worrisome inventor some good times…and something else she had in mind.

The day had just gotten that much better for her when she had received a package in the mail last night that had turned out to be her new temporary backpack armor. The backpack itself was exactly the same as her old one, but the armor hidden inside it was not her lovely Rescue outfit.

_It'll have to do_, she mused as she flung the backpack over her shoulder and tiptoed out of her room. Since the communication that the class was going to be cancelled had been sent last night, _Snoring Beauty_ had not even bothered to set up an alarm. In fact, it was not even eight in the morning yet, which gave the ginger plenty of time to leave, have something to eat, and then take her time testing out her new armor…

…by flying it to MIT, counting time zone differences and all.

She knew Tony had classes back-to-back from eight until noon, so her plan when she arrived there was to find his dorm, sneak inside, and surprise him when he stopped by for lunch. The thought crossed her mind of pulling a ghost prank on him too, but she quickly dismissed it when she realized she just wanted some peace and quiet around her guy.

Although Greg had not been expelled but had only been suspended, she knew that once he returned to campus he would never bother her again. Sadly, the man had not confessed how in the world he had gotten a hold of a cardkey to Pepper's room, but after her conversation with him, the Dean of Students, Sandra and one with Tony last night, the two heroes suspected that the blonde had been somehow responsible for what had almost happened to the redhead.

_"He kept asking your name, just like Sandra had asked, too,"_ Pepper had told Tony last night via pod texts. _"What kind of playboy wants to know the name of the boyfriend of the girl he's about to sleep with? None!"_

Tony had agreed with her. It seemed Sandra was growing desperate and wanted Pepper out. However, there had not been any compelling evidence to link Sandra to Greg's actions, and for now they had no choice but to let it go. Pepper was aware that Tony hated lose ends, and he also hated not being able to bring some sort of personal justice to those who had done him or her wrong, so to make it easier on the inventor she had decided last night to do what she was about to do now: fly off to Massachusetts when he did not expect it.

Leaving the campus unnoticed had been easy thanks to the stealth mode feature of the armor, which she limited herself to using it only to depart from the roof. She planned to land somewhere near his college, have something to eat, and then proceed with the next part of her plan. Even though they had promised to only see each other on Sundays in Topeka, Pepper could not squash the urge to see him again so soon.

_Get out of the way, Margie. Tony Stark's girlfriend is in the house!_

xxxXXXxxx

Finding his building had not been that difficult, but she had lost track of time due to flying her suit all over the place, and if it had not been for the fact that Tony was overwhelmed with his classes, he would have realized the pod had sent an alert that the armor was close by before Pepper had hurried up to put it away for now.

From her position in a nearby tree – which was difficult to stay on with her denim mini skirt – she had watched Tony walk up the stairs to the second floor of his building about fifteen minutes ago. She had waited about five minutes to send him a text asking what he was doing, and he had responded that he was going to shower and then go out to eat somewhere; just as she had expected all along.

She waited for a couple more minutes to let the scientist lock himself inside his bathroom before she jumped out of the tree and casually walked to the building. She took short steps up the stairs and did not stop her trek until she was in front of the door. She stared left and right to make sure no one was looking at her, and she hoped the cameras on campus did not pick up her actions as clearly as they had picked up Greg's in Berkeley.

She slid her right hand inside her pocket and was about to take out her pod to aid her in her lock-picking technique when the door in question opened up on its own.

"Hey! You're here!" Rick said to the confused redhead before he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her inside the dorm room, closing the door behind him.

Pepper's hands flew to the straps of her backpack in case she needed it, surprised that one of Tony's roommates was here. "You…what do you mean 'I'm here'?"

"Well, I didn't think you'd be here so early. We weren't expecting you until much later."

"We? Expecting? You knew I was coming?" Pepper asked, wondering if her plan to surprise Tony had just gone down the drain.

"Of course we did; all of us! Hey, Lewis, Ray, come out! The stripper's here!"

"The _what_?" Pepper spat and shook her head. "I'm not a…"

"WHOA!" Lewis said when he walked inside the common room and winked at Pepper before pulling her to sit on the couch with him. "Hey, there, girl. What's your name?"

"Don't be an idiot, Lewis!" Ray said and hit him up the head, also sitting next to Pepper on the couch, leaving the confused ginger sitting between the two men. "She can't give you her real name. She can only tell us her stage name."

"Stage name?" Pepper's eyes widened.

"It's OK, stripper," Rick said and stood in front of the couch, his back to the television. "We won't tell."

"But, I'm _not_ a stripper!" Pepper slammed her palms on her legs.

"You're not?" Lewis asked.

"No. I'm not. I'm the complete opposite of a stripper, as a matter of fact."

"Oh, I get it," Ray nodded. "You're the opposite of a stripper, so that makes you a hooker!"

"A-WHAT?"

"Dude, I thought you said we weren't getting a hooker? My mom's gonna kill me if she finds out," whispered Rick in a nervous tone.

"Relax, man," Ray waved a dismissive hand toward the worried boy. "Your mom won't find out. I put it on Tony's credit card. He forgot it in between the seats of the couch again."

"Tony?" Pepper gulped. "Tony's in on this, too?"

"Sure he is!" Ray responded.

"Dude, you know he's not." Lewis shook his head.

"Whatever. He's paying for it, anyway. That's the least he can do for not getting us the porn channels we've asked for." Ray interjected.

"Well, if you put it that way…" Lewis shrugged and stood up from the couch.

"Anyway," Ray continued and helped Pepper stand from the couch with him. "If we're doing this we better do it fast, and not here. Mr. Party Pooper is in his room and will come out any second now to go eat."

"You're right. That's why we were supposed to be doing this after he left for his afternoon classes," Rick pointed out, prompting Lewis and Ray to hold Pepper by her arms. "Let's take the hooker to my room before he walks out."

"OK, _stop_ right there, you three stooges," Pepper spat and pulled her arms away from their grip. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Why not? Has the fee gone up?"

"Fee?"

"Yeah," Ray asked and pulled out Tony's credit card from his pants pocket and waved it in front of Pepper. "I'm curious, though. What do you do for the extra three hundred bucks?"

"Nothing! Nothing for the extra three hundred bucks!"

"Boo," Lewis said and shook his head. "What a rip-off!"

"How about if we throw in the two-grand?" Ray asked.

"Two grand? We don't have that kind of money!" Rick said again in a worried tone.

"We don't, but Tony does," Ray pointed to the card with a smile and a wiggle of his eyebrows before Pepper snatched it off his hand.

"Hey! Strip first, _then_ get paid!" Lewis said.

"That's enough out of you!" the ginger snarled and hit each of their foreheads with the credit card in one swift motion. "First of all, I am _not_ a stripper…"

"Uh," Ray began with a lifted index finger as if asking permission to speak.

"Or a hooker!" the redhead continued. "Second of all, I'm here for…"

Pepper's words were interrupted when the door to Tony's bedroom was opened to reveal the inventor walking out of it. His hair was still damp from the shower he had just taken, and he was looking down at his pod as he spoke.

"You guys don't want me to bring back anything? I won't take long, I have to be back early for…" he finally looked up. "Pepper?"

"Tony!"

"_What?_ You two know each other?" Lewis asked with narrowed eyes, watching as the inventor took steps toward them, stopping only when the couch became the only thing between the trio and the girl, and the scientist himself.

"What are you doing here, Pepper?"

"I…" the redhead's words were cut-off again.

"Well, that's lovely, Stark!" Ray crossed his arms over his chest. "You told us you didn't _know_ any strippers and YET here you are. I'm disappointed in you."

"Stripper?" Tony chocked on his words. "She's not a stripper!"

"And she isn't a hooker, either," Rick said with a shake of the head. "What a bummer, huh?"

"Hooker? What the fuck?" Tony spat.

"Yes!" Lewis screamed and raised his hand. "That's what hookers do!"

"For the last time: I am NOT. A. HOOKER!" Pepper screamed.

"She's NOT a hooker!" Tony said. "That's Pepper! She's…"

"Pepper?" Ray stared up and down at the ginger. "Is that your stage name?"

"Oh, for the _love_ of God," Pepper rubbed her forehead with her right hand. "Tony, why didn't you tell me your roommates had the IQ of a _snail_?"

"How do you know a hooker, Tone?" Lewis asked, still caught up in his own conversation despite the fact that it had already moved on from that point.

"Will you stop calling Pepper a hooker?" Tony asked and walked around the couch to grab his girl's hand in his. "Come on, Pepper. Let's get out of here."

"WAIT!" Rick said and stared between Tony and Pepper and then down at their joined hands. "Oh! OH! OOOH!" He pointed to them.

"What?" Ray asked. "What is it?"

"DUDE!" Rick's hands waved like crazy in the air as if he had just made some important scientific or medical discovery. "This is her! This is Pepper!"

Lewis rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Duh! We know that! Pepper is her stage name!"

Rick's response was to hit Lewis up the head. "How much of that shit did you smoke? No, man! This is THE Pepper!"

"THE Pepper?" Tony asked, his face reflecting Pepper's confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Ohhh! Yeah!" Ray finally caught on. "I know who she is! She…she's the one…she's…ooohh…this is _so_ much better than a hooker or a stripper!"

"OK, what am I missing here?" Lewis shrugged, still rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head.

"Pepper!" Ray began. "This is Pepper! Remember? She's the girl Tony was mumbling about in his sleep that day we caught him here on the couch with his hands down his –"

"WHOA!" Tony yelled. "'That's enough out of you!"

"Down his _what_?" Pepper asked, suddenly becoming interested in the conversation.

"Nothing!" Tony spat. "They don't know what they're talking about!"

"But we _do_!" Ray sing-songed before he began imitating Tony and made kissing noises as he spoke. _"Oh, Pepper! I love you, Pepper!"_

"Shut up!" Tony yelled.

"Hahaha!" Lewis joined in. "I remember now! What else has he said in his sleep? Oh, yeah: _I want you, Pepper_. Shit! I'd want her too if my girlfriend was a stripper!" he shook his head. "Oh, wait. Sorry, a hooker. Not a stripper."

"Is this true, Tony?" Pepper stared at her boyfriend, and the blush that covered every inch of his face was the only answer she needed. "You dream about me?"

"Only like every night," Rick pointed out before realization dawned on him and reflected on his face. "Hey! Wait a minute! This makes so much more sense now! You're Rescue, too, aren't you?"

"Err…" Pepper gulped and briefly stared at Tony before she returned her eyes toward the expecting trio. "Uhm…no. I'm a stripper."

"Pepper!" Tony spat and then sighed. "OK, alright. Can we all just shut up and calm down for a second?"

The troop of roommates nodded to the inventor and then walked over to the couch and sat down. Tony took in a deep breath and then stared at Pepper with a questioning look. Pepper understood his silent question and shrugged, letting Tony know she was leaving the decision up to him.

Finally, Tony led Pepper to stand next to him in front of the awaiting men, and nodded. "Yes, you guys are correct. This is Pepper Potts. A.K.A. Rescue, and yes, she's my girlfriend."

"Awesome!" Rick said and grabbed Pepper's free hand in both of his large ones. "I'm, like, your biggest fan. The way you kick ass and…well, you're hot…and…"

"Dude," Tony warned.

"But, uhm…you're taken. I know." Rick finished and let go of Pepper's hand.

"So, why have you been keeping your identity a secret? I mean, everyone knows James Rhodes is War Machine, and that Tony is Iron Man. What gives?" Ray asked.

"It's a long story," Tony replied. "But all you need to know for now is that keeping the secret keeps her safe, so I expect you all to keep this to yourselves, at least for a while."

The three men stared at each other and shrugged.

"No problem, man! I'd do anything for her," Rick said with a smile.

"I guess…alright," Ray reluctantly agreed. "But you're still paying for the stripper that's coming tonight."

"Don't worry, Tony," Lewis said. "The secret that your girlfriend is a hooker and a stripper is safe with me," the clueless man said with a wink and a double tsk, causing everyone else to sigh in resignation.

"That's close enough, I guess." Tony said and turned to face the girl. "So, what are you doing here, Pepper? Not that I'm complaining, mind you. But I thought we wouldn't see each other until Sunday."

"I know. I wanted to surprise you. My class was cancelled today and I wanted to see you."

"Aww," Lewis said and sniffed, and Rick handed him a tissue from the box next to him.

"But, I can't miss class again. I want to be with you, I swear, but I have to go to class."

"I know. I'll go with you. That was my plan, anyway."

"Really?" Tony smiled. "Are you sure? They're going to be boring, Pep."

"Pep?" Rick repeated. "He has a pet name for her. Aww!" he said before he grabbed a tissue for himself and blew his nose on it.

"Uh, guys. Would you mind giving us some privacy?" Tony asked.

"What? Why? Are you going to touch yourself again?" Lewis asked. "You know, that's Pepper right there. You don't have to resort to that again."

"Don't worry, man. We'll be out of your hair." Ray said and got up, dragging Lewis by the ear. "We have to get ready for the real stripper. Let's go, now."

"Pepper," Rick began. "Before you go, and if it isn't much trouble, can you sign my jersey? Please?"

The ginger chuckled. "Who do you want me to sign as? Pepper or Rescue?"

"Both?"

"Alright, Rick, right?" The ginger asked and the boy nodded excitedly. "I'll make sure to do so."

"Thank you," Rick said before he kissed the back of her hand and left the common room, leaving the couple with some much needed privacy. Pepper gave it a few more seconds before she returned her attention to Tony and with a playful smirk dragged him out the front door before she spoke again.

"So, you touch yourself in your sleep?"

The inventor sighed and shook his head, but deep inside he was happy to see her smile.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

_"We are so excited about our annual homecoming tradition, aren't we, Daniel?"_ The student anchor said in an overly bubbly tone on screen as Pepper watched the close-circuit campus channel in her room. Her books and other school supplies were sprawled all over her bed as she had pushed back doing her homework to Friday to have something to do. Since she had spent Wednesday at MIT with Tony, she was now slightly more behind than she had expected but the experienced lived that day had been completely worth her time.

Especially when finding out from Tony's eager-to-talk roommates how much the inventor really and truly cared for her.

It was not as if she did not know it already, but hearing it from someone else other than the person who claimed to love her added extra weight to the actions and words. And, of course, before she had left she had happily signed Rick's jersey as he had requested of her.

_"This year is going to be different, though, Janet"_ the second student-reporter said, catching again the attention of the redhead. _"Our Student Government Association has pulled some strings, and thanks to our very own Sandra Saunders, a very special football team is coming here!"_

_Oh, brother_, Pepper rolled her eyes and returned her gaze to her homework. _What's Sandra done now?_

_"That's right! And their football team is not all that MIT is bringing with them!"_

"What?"Pepper's head snapped up."We're playing MIT? We aren't even in the same conference!"

_"Oh, I know what you guys are thinking: MIT is not even in the same region as us. But, remember that this game is just for show."_

_"And to crown our Homecoming Queen! Oh, and guess who this year's Queen gets to dance with?"_

_ "Certainly some handsome stranger?" _Daniel winked at the screen.

_"You don't know the half of it!"_ Janet said as she used her paper notes to fan herself as if she was on fire and about to reveal the cure to all diseases of the world. _"Handsome? Absolutely! Stranger? Not so much. We just received confirmation that Tony Stark's Iron Man will be part of the halftime show! Can you believe it? Iron Man here in Berkeley!"_

"WHAT? Iron Man? _Here_?" Pepper spat, dropping her pencil from her hand before she heard Sandra come out of the shower, towel wrapped around her head and chuckled at Pepper's surprised face.

"And all thanks to me," the blonde said, and rested her hand over her chest. "My daddy helped me get Tony to accept the invitation. And, of course, he couldn't resist once I threw in the fact that he gets to spend the Homecoming Dance with me."

"What?" Pepper blinked. "Why would To – _he_ go to the dance with you?"

"Well, isn't it obvious?" Sandra asked as she removed the towel from her head and began combing her hair with her fingers. "I'll be crowned Homecoming Queen this year."

"Uh, I thought we, the students, got to vote for who we want the Queen to be."

"Technicality. Tit-for-tat, Potts. I bring MIT and Iron Man here; I get to spend the day with him, and probably the night, too."

"The night? You forget I live here, too."

"So?" she shrugged and walked over to sit on the edge of her bed. "I'm sure Tony would find us a better place to spend the night…_alone_."

_"The countdown to the Homecoming Game starts right now, everyone,"_ Janet continued on screen. _"Seven days from today we will get to have Iron Man grace us with his presence, and make one lucky girl's dream come true."_

_"Oh, what I wouldn't give to be that lucky one,"_ Daniel said with a twinkle in his eye. _"Who would be so lucky to steal Tony Stark's heart?"_

"If only these fools knew I already did," the blonde chuckled, earning her a glare from the redhead. "What's the matter, commoner? Hoping that your Fairy Godmother grants you a midnight wish to be at Tony's level at least once?"

"No. I'd rather she make a miracle happen and give you half a brain."

"Jealous, much? I don't blame you, Potts. I get to sleep with Tony Stark after the Homecoming Game and Dance, and you have no one but your one-eyed, crippled hunchback to spend the night with. Are you bringing him over for the dance? Does he get to be relieved from his ringing-the-chapel's-bell duty?"

"Oh, I'm sure an exception can be made," Pepper spat and grabbed her pod.

"You go ahead and work on that, and while you worry to get a custom-fit tuxedo for your freak of a boyfriend, I'm going to go to Victoria's Secret to get a nice outfit for Tony," Sandra said and stood up before walking down the hall and picking up her purse. "Ta-ta, Potts."

"Ta-ta, yourself," Pepper mumbled before she stared down at her pod and texted Tony. She knew the inventor did not have any more classes for the rest of the day, so when he did not immediately respond to her text, her worries escalated that much more.

The ginger sighed and stared at her still unfinished homework and knew she would not be able to concentrate on doing it anymore. She stood up from the bed and after making sure Sandra was truly gone; she returned to the television and raised the volume of it.

_"So, this is how everything is going to pan out, so take notes,"_ Daniel began. _"The celebration begins on Monday with daily activities organized by the different student clubs on campus, particularly around noon, so if you need a quick bite to eat, stop by any of our cafeterias on campus for free food. Oh! And the games, too!"_

_"And, while you are at it,"_ Janet continued the information session. _"Make sure you have no plans for next Friday, that's a week from today, folks. The Homecoming Game begins at 7 P.M. sharp. The halftime show will feature the marching bands for each school, and of course like we said before, a special appearance of Iron Man to crown our Queen."_

_"Then, after all is said and done, grab your Red Bull and recharge overnight because the carnival starts at noon the next day, and the activities of the closing ceremonies culminate with the Homecoming Dance. It's a formal dance, everyone, so make sure you've rented your tux!"_

_"I got my dress two weeks ago,"_ Janet said. _"And I have a feeling this will be the best Homecoming event here at Berkeley in years."_

_"You bet your pretty face it will be! I can't wait to report the events!"_

_ "And we hope to see all of you there. Well, that's all we have for now. Go bears!"_

The transmission of the announcements ended, leaving Pepper's head spinning. She had not even planned on attending the Homecoming Game or the dance as she had already made up her mind that it was best to use that time to complete her homework so that she would be able to meet with Tony in Topeka that Sunday. Now that he was coming down to Berkeley and a busy weekend was ahead of him, she was not sure what to do or think.

_Is this really happening?_ She questioned, her eyes staring down at her pod. _Sandra's going to try to get together with him. I just know she is._

Her pondering was interrupted by the ringing of her pod. She immediately slid it open and answered the call, knowing very well who it was that was calling her.

"Is it true?" The redhead inquired.

_"Yes, Pepper, it's true,"_ Tony said in an annoyed tone, not even having to think about what Pepper was referring to. _"I just found out myself just now. The Dean called me to a meeting after class and told me I have no choice."_

"But, but…they made it sound as if you were happy to do it? Why? Why do you _have_ to do this?"

_ "It's a lot of stuff combined. Bottom line is that I have to do it. There's no way around it."_

"What about Sandra?" The redhead asked and began pacing around her room. "She said she's getting dibs on you!"

_"She thinks she has dibs, but if she thinks I'm going to plaster on a smile and spend the day with her, she has another thing coming."_

"But, Tony, you…you _have_ to do what she says. If she finds out…if she realizes that you…and me…"

Tony sighed, having gone over these same scenarios himself several times before calling his girl. _"I know, Pep. But, at this point, and with this happening, would it really be so bad for everyone to know we're together?"_

"YES! It would be horrible! She'd kill me, for one. Or, at least _try_ to kill me, and then I'd be left with no option but to kick her ass, and for that I'll be kicked out of school."

_"Relax, Pepper. That's not going to happen."_

"How do you even know that? She's obsessed with you, Tony! She just left to go buy something from Victoria's Secret to model for you, for Christ's sake!"

Tony groaned. _"I hope she keeps the receipt so she can return it after I tell her off. Look, babe, I think that after everything she thinks she has made you believe, and when she sees that we've been dating all this time and that we knew she was lying all along, she'll just be so embarrassed she'll leave you alone."_

"You…you think so? I mean, she's been gloating everyday about how good you are in bed and I don't know what else. What if she tries to turn the tables around? I should just not show up to the damned game or dance and let her have her fun."

_"Hell, no! I'm not dancing, kissing or sleeping with that witch!"_

"But, Tony, if she's giving me hell right now…"

_"No, Pepper. I'm not pretending to like her. I know it would be best if she didn't find out about us, and I know she's going to flip out when she does, but I've come up with an idea to make sure she has no choice but to accept she's lost."_

"How?"

_"Leave it all to me. All you have to do is make sure you're there for the game and the dance."_

"But, Tony, I…"

_"Don't you trust me, Pepper?"_

"I…" she inhaled deeply and sat on the edge of her bed, her eyes landing on the backpack armor that rested against the closet door. "I trust you, Tony. You know I trust you with my life."

_"Then do so,"_ he said. _"After next weekend, Sandra's going to wish she'd never tried to pull that shit on you, and you'll finally rid yourself of the annoying girl."_

"Alright," the girl closed her eyes. "I'll have to go get a dress now."

_"And don't forget to stop at Victoria's Secret, too,"_ Tony added with a smirk. _"The thong you left me under my pillow here on Wednesday is good and all, but I would like to see it on you rather than just in my drawer."_

"Ah-ah-ah!" Pepper shook her head. "You didn't say anything about modeling the outfit. You just said getting you a thong."

_ "It was implied, Pepper."_

"Too bad. Opportunity lost."

_"Ugh! Why are you so difficult, Potts? I'm ridding you of that bitch of a roommate of yours. I think I deserve a rather large reward for it."_

"Oh, you'll get a reward. Just not now."

_"When?"_

"Patience, Stark. Leave it all to me. All you have to do is make sure she doesn't steal you away from me."

_"Never, Pepper. No one can steal me away from you."_

"So you say."

_"So I know."_

Pepper looked up at the ceiling, silently praying that everything would turn out to be alright for them, but she somehow knew that nothing would. She wanted to believe that Tony's plan, whatever it was, was going to finally end her troubles in Berkeley, but Tony did not know Sandra like she did, and she was certain that the blonde would not give up so easily on her quest to make Tony hers.

_"You still there, Pep?"_

"Yeah, just…distracted, sorry. I've got homework to do. See you Sunday, then?"

_ "Noon, Kansas time."_

"Alright. See you, Tony."

_"See you, babe."_ The inventor said and hung up, cursing the day he had signed the contract he had to fulfill now.


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

"Ugh, Pepper, please not so hard."

"What?" She took in a deep breath and rearranged her position on him. "What do you mean not so hard? That's not what you've just told me to do."

"I know what I said, but I've changed my mind." The inventor managed to say despite Pepper's hand pressing down on the side of his face, forcing him on the ground.

"Well, too late. You're the one who asked for it." She responded angrily and used her legs on either side of him to put more pressure on his upper back with her left elbow digging into it.

"If you want me to be enjoying this, I'm supposed to be facing the other side, and you've got on too much clothing," he said, causing Pepper to groan and dig her elbow further into him.

"Who said I wanted _you_ to enjoy it? You're_ making_ me do this!"

"Not making you; we had a deal. And… oh, no…Pep…not there…"

"But I like it there; it makes it easier on me to torture you. You like it, too; don't lie."

"No, I honestly don't," he grumbled. "I thought I would, but now I _know_ I don't."

"Will you make up your mind?" She swapped hands and flipped his face so that the left side of his face was now the one that rested against the floor. "You _so_ cannot take me."

"Don't tempt me, Pepper Potts or I'm going to flip you over and take on you right now."

"Blah-blah-blah," she rolled her eyes. "Promises, promises."

"I mean it, Pepper…oh…ugh…stop…please…"

"I thought you'd had more stamina than this with Extremis in you."

"I do! But I still have limits."

"Don't you talk to me about limits, Stark! Whatever limits you say to have, they're purely self-imposed right now."

"Whatever. Are you almost done?"

"I don't know. Are you done whining?"

"I'm _not_ whining; I'm just making sure we do this right. I don't want to hurt you."

"Hurt me? This is not my first time. I'm going easy on you."

"Oh,_ really_?" he asked and in a quick move flipped them over and pinned down the redhead under him on the mat. "Not your first time? Yah-right! See? I've already won; piece of cake. You're not getting your suit back like this."

"What?" Her eyes widened as she tried to wiggle herself free. "You can't do that! This is our first day training!"

"And you're already losing."

"I'm _not_ losing! We haven't even really started; we're just warming up."

"Blah-blah-blah," he rolled his eyes now. "Excuses, excuses."

"Ugh! Let go of me!" The ginger spat and moved her head from side to side on the floor, trying to free herself from Tony's tight grip. "Get off! I hate you!"

"That's not what you said to me last night over the phone," he smirked at her and leaned down to kiss her nose. "In fact, I think you said the complete opposite of that."

"Argh! You're pushing your luck, Tony."

"No, I'm not," he smiled, thrilled that he had her right where he wanted, even if it was not for what he _truly_ wanted to do with her right about now. "Didn't you say you like it rough, anyway?"

"If you keep this up you're not _ever _going to find out if that's true or not!"

Tony pouted. "Aw, Pep! Why are you so mean to me?"

"Because you like it rough!" she yelled before she found an opening, kneed Tony on his stomach, pressed her two feet on his chest, grabbed his shoulders and flipped him over her. She quickly rolled away from him and got up, breathing hard as she did so. "What have you been eating lately, anvils? You're getting heavier."

"It's called muscle," he retorted with a small whimper and stood up. "You're gonna need some of it if you're going to want to carry that heavy ass suit I'm making you."

"I didn't sign up for this," she shook her head and walked over to her bottle of water to take a sip, feeling already exhausted with the training even before it was even taking place.

"For what?"

"This," she pointed a finger between them. "When I kissed you on that roof, I had no idea you were going to be like this, Tony. Were you always this demanding around Whitney?"

"Whitney? Demanding? What's that supposed to mean?" He bent down by the edge of the mat to grab his towel and wiped the sweat off his brow with it.

"You…this…us! I didn't know you were this…this…"

"In love with you?" He suggested.

"No! High-maintenance!"

"High-maintenance? Uh, Pepper, sorry to break it to you, but I think you've got our roles confused."

"Are you calling me high-maintenance?"

"I'm calling you Pepper," he jested, loving the way she looked when she was about to blow a fuse.

"Seriously? Where were you hiding this side of you, huh? At first I thought it was endearing, but now I'm beginning to wonder if Whitney picked up on it faster than I that dumping your ass was for the best."

Tony eyed her frustrated pose for a second, and the barely controlled tears in her eyes, tilted his head to the right and frowned. "What did Sandra do now?"

Pepper exhaled and looked away, knowing she had been caught. It was not as if she was having second thoughts about her relationship with Tony, per se. It was more the jitters of whatever was going to happen in five days. What if Tony's plan failed? What if Sandra did end up taking Tony away from her after all? What if Tony had changed his mind about she being Rescue and this training act was just an excuse to slowly wean her off it?

To make matters worse for the ginger, Tony had refused to let her in on what he was going to do during the game and hearing Sandra talk and talk and talk about him and her, and Homecoming, and the constant teasing of the blonde, and her lack of venting venue…the redhead was starting to lose all patience and hope.

And then Sunday had arrived and she had gotten up really late after staying up most of the night doing the homework she had been having a difficult time concentrating on, and she had arrived at Topeka to find a Tony acting like there was no care in the world, and he had begun teasing her…

She could not take any more.

"Tony…" she held back a sob. "I…I…" she lowered her face and hugged herself.

"Aw, Pep," he whispered and closed the distance between them when he saw her begin to cry. He had never really seen her cry, at least not the way she was doing so strongly now that her shoulders were shaking, and he could only imagine the amount of pressure she was feeling now. "Hey, Pepper, don't cry," he hugged her trembling body and kissed the side of her face. "It will be over soon, I promise."

"What if it doesn't work?"

"It will work. I know it will."

"But what if…"

"Stop, Pepper," he said firmly and held her face in his hands. "You're letting her win before we even fight back. This is not the Pepper I know. This is not the Pepper that caught my attention that day I met you on the Academy's roof."

The redhead sniffed. "Is that code for 'I don't like you anymore'?"

"No," he chuckled and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "It's code for 'where the hell is the girl that takes crap from no one'?"

"She…she's on vacation."

"Vacation? No, no vacation. We need her here now. This will only work if my Pepper is around."

"_Your _Pepper?"

"Yes," he stared at her eyes. "_My _Pepper."

"The same Pepper that beat you up with a plunger?"

"That same one," he smiled. "And the same one that flipped me over there, just now." He pointed to the stop he had landed on. "Good job, by the way."

Pepper snickered and closed her eyes to rest them from the slowing tears, but Tony had other plans for the girl. He pulled her face to his and kissed her, picked her up in the same way he had done so the night they had shared their first real kiss, walked them over to where the floor lockers were, and sat her over them.

He then scooted in between her legs and pulled her closer to him, not once breaking the kiss. Pepper responded to him by closing her legs around his waist and for the first time for the both of them, she parted her lips and dug her tongue inside his mouth. The inventor could not help the throaty moan that escaped him when he felt her in him, and it just made him want more of her.

Not sure if what he was doing was correct, he imitated her movements in her own mouth, tilting her head back slightly to make it easier on him to take over the act. He then dug his fingers around her thighs, and Pepper scratched the skin on his upper back that was not covered by his workout tank top.

"Tony," she said almost out of air, her eyes still closed as he worked on sucking on the junction of her neck and her right shoulder. "I think…stop…we need to…"

"Why?" he asked out of breath himself but refusing to letting something as pitiful as having to_ breathe_ keep him from what he wanted to do.

"Stop…please…this is not…"

Hearing her asking him to stop for the second time made him do as she instructed, but he still kept his hands on her waist, and his face still buried in her neck. "Sorry," he whispered. "Please don't think that all I want is…it's not like that, at all."

"I know," she whispered back, trying to reassure him and rested her forehead on his shoulder. "I didn't think that you…I just…too fast…"

He chuckled. "I understand how it may seem like it but…for me…I've liked you before we kissed…I just didn't know I did… and now…I want to…I need to make up for lost time…I've wasted enough of it by now."

Pepper giggled. "Tony, I've liked you since I first met you. Don't talk to me about not taking your time or wasting your time. I liked you even when you didn't like me back; even when anyone would've told me not to waste my time waiting for you."

He pulled back from her neck now that his hormones were settling down and stared down at her with a look that Pepper had not quite ever seen on him before. It was similar to the one he had looked at her when she had sat on his lap the first time, but there was something else mingled with it, and if she did not know any better, she would have said it was guilt.

"Pepper, there's something…important, _very_ important that I have to tell you."

"What is it?"

"I…" he sighed, quickly losing his nerve when the thought of losing the chance to have her in his arms like this ever again crossed his mind. A similar feeling had overcome him once before: when he had almost told Whitney he was Iron Man but something had stopped him from doing so. Back then it had been the feeling that the timing was not right; that it was not right to tell Whitney who he really was.

This moment, however, that same feeling of warning that was creeping up to him was telling him this was not the time or the place to drop that bombshell on her. Not when she was already so upset about the situation; not when she was having doubts about sticking to his plan…

Not when she was having second thoughts about _trusting_ him.

Was that not the whole problem he was trying to resolve?

"Tony?" she waved a hand over his face. "What is it? What do you have to tell me?"

"What?"

"You said you had something important to tell me. What is it?"

He opened his mouth but the words would not come out. He then looked to the side and swallowed hard before he returned her gaze to her. "Pepper, when you…when you asked me to…"

"Uh, am I interrupting?" The personal trainer Tony had hired cleared his throat. "I see that you've already done warm up exercises."

Pepper blushed madly when she realized in what position they had been caught, although she was glad that this time it had not been their parents that had seen them like this. Either way she was embarrassed and pulled away from Tony, but she still allowed him to carry her down from the lockers.

"You told me you were running late," the trainer continued. "So I went to get a snack. I hope that's alright?"

"Yeah, it's no problem," Tony shrugged. "Jay, this is Pepper Potts. Pepper, this is Jay Rhodes. He's Rhodey's cousin."

"Rescue," Jay extended his hand to her and Pepper shook it. "Pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

"Rhodey's cousin? Wow! You look nothing like him."

"He's from the scrawny side of the family," he jested. "But don't tell him I said that."

"I won't," Pepper smiled.

"So, are you two guys ready?" Jay asked with a clap. "I've heard Tony wants you in top shape, Miss Potts."

"It's Pepper."

"Pepper," he nodded. "I have to apologize in advance. This man is paying me the big bucks to make you the next karate kid or something close to that."

Pepper threw her head back in laughter and then shook her head. "I'm sure he is."

"And I'm sure he will," Tony said.

"Well, let's see what we can do. Before we begin, though, do we have any questions?"

"I do!" Pepper said, walked over to her gym bag and took out a small fabric that neither Jay nor Tony could recognize at first. "When can I put this on?"

"What is that?" Tony asked and then his and Jay's eyes widened when Pepper extended the fabric and tied it around her waist over her workout shorts.

"You…you're…you're a…" Tony could not find words to complete his statement as he pointed to what he now knew was a martial arts belt.

"Black belt?!" Jay asked.

"Third degree, Taekwondo," she responded with a smile and her hands locked behind her back. "So," she continued. "Whose ass am I supposed to kick first?"

Jay took a step back and pushed Tony forward by pushing him on his back before he spoke. "Good luck, man."

Tony hung his head and sighed.


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Tony's eyes were alternating between staring at his Advanced Mechanics professor while he lectured by the front of the class and down at his pod on his desk to look at the time. He had to literally run out of the class as soon as it ended if he wanted to make it to his tuxedo fitting for the Homecoming Dance in Berkeley this weekend. The tailor had told him he could have the job done in twenty-four hours, and since the Game was in two days and he still had to run down one more rehearsal with the school's marching band tomorrow, he only had today to get the fitting done.

He had also been rehearsing in his mind his plan to put an end to Sandra's torturing of Pepper ever since he had come up with it the day he had been reminded he owed people some _huge_ favors, and that attending the Homecoming events in Berkeley were going to be part of his settlement.

He knew his timing needed to be precise. One wrong move and no one would buy into what he was planning on doing, which meant a longer torment time for his girl; his girl who had surprised him with the knowledge that she was a high-ranked martial artist.

At first he had thought Pepper was just pulling his leg, but the longer the training lasted, the more it began hitting home. She was the daughter of an FBI agent, after all, and she was always looking to be part of the mission's action. And while she had never been given the chance to really show it, she did display skills of a martial artist – most of which had not really stood out to him until now. Sadly, the enemies and situations she had encountered since the day they had met had not been normal by any stretch of the imagination, and thus she had not been able to share her unknown talent with him.

Rhodey knowing about it, however, was another story. _I can't believe he never told me_, Tony groaned silently, promising to chew off his so-called best friend the next time he saw him again.

_"How the heck do you think I sneaked out of my apartment when Mr. Fix was after me?"_ Pepper had pointed out to Tony and Jay during training, and Tony had admitted that he had attributed her escape to simple good luck and Iron Man's much-needed intervention. The other occasions in which Pepper had needed rescue had not been commonplace, and her martial arts skills could only do so much against automatic guns, Makluan Guardians, highly-advanced robots, aliens and, most recently, armed terrorists.

Besides, after joining Team Iron Man and then getting her armor and Tony Stark's version of a Swiss army knife – her pod – why would she need to resort to the old-school use of fists?

_I guess she __**can**__ defend herself_, Tony figured, feeling somewhat guilty for giving her a hard time about her abilities. He had not been aware than in order for her to use her talents of the arts to defend herself she would have to warn the attacker that she possessed twelve years of training and would not hesitate to use lethal force*, and the ginger was yet to see the need to execute this request. If she did not warn an assailant of her advantage, she would get arrested…again.

Tony chuckled remembering how Pepper always told anyone who would listen about the time she had been arrested but that the charges has been dropped. She had apparently beaten the living crud out of a boy in middle school that had tried to go too far with her, and had forgotten to tell the unlucky bastard that she was certified to break his bones. Fortunately, due to her age, clean record and the fact that the punk had tried to do something atrocious to the little girl, the family of the boy had gone easy on Pepper, and she had gotten away with a warning.

_That'd be the day_, Tony smiled. '_Hey,_ _I'm Iron Man and I possess unregistered weapons technology, and I'm not afraid to use it.'_ He shook his head.

Tony's eyes landed on his pod again and saw that he only had thirty more seconds of class to go. If he timed it correctly, he would be out of the classroom in a flash, run down the hall to the nearest exit, put on the suit and fly off to the tailor who was fifteen miles away from campus. He knew if he flew there it would be much faster, and since the suit was being flown to the hotel where he had to stay with his college peers while in California, he did not have to worry about beating the traffic on Friday morning to try and pick it up before their plane took off.

The next couple of days were going to be extremely frantic, and the only relief he had in all of this was seeing Pepper again. Hopefully, if everything went as planned, they would no longer have to hide their relationship or the fact that she was Rescue, and if everything went even better than planned, Pepper would be told the truth and with any luck she would understand the reasoning behind what he had done to her…

Or, _for_ her…depending on how his actions were scrutinized by the ginger.

The bell that his crazy professor always rang to signify the end of the class resounded in the room, and Tony was the first one out the door. He went around the other students that had also just gotten out of class in the same building, uttering apologies and warnings as he sped down the hall. He finally saw the corner that would lead him to the exit he was looking for, and as he rounded it faster than he thought he could, something caught him by surprise.

In retrospect, it had not really been _something _that had surprised him, but _someone_.

He groaned when he bumped into her, and before he could make out what had happened, he was being dragged inside a service closet. He felt his back hit the wall and he almost tripped on the bucket and mop behind him, but he quickly regained his balance and pushed himself to a standing position. "What the…"

The rest of his question died in his mouth when he felt lips pressing against him, and he was shocked out of his wits for an instant until he felt a hand rubbing against his crotch.

"Gah!" The inventor pushed the would-be aggressor off him and rubbed the back of his hand over his mouth only to see bright red lipstick smeared all over his skin. "What is your deal?"

"Tony," he heard a whisper coming from the dark of the small room. He then heard shuffling close by and his eyes widened when the single light bulb hanging from the ceiling was turned on and he saw a blonde dressed in a rather scanty outfit walking up to him. "I've been waiting for you."

Tony used the inside of the front of his shirt to remove the remainder of lipstick off his mouth and narrowed his eyes at the girl. "Who are you?"

"I'm your date, of course."

"My date? What are you talking about? Why did you bring me in here? I have somewhere I have to be."

"Oh, I'm sure you're very busy right now with rehearsals and such, but there is something _we_ need to rehearse, too."

"Again, who the hell are you?"

The girl snickered. "My name is Sandra. Sandra Saunders; and I'm going to be your date during the Berkeley Homecoming this weekend."

_ Oh. CRAP.  
_

"Look," the inventor began, trying his best to keep his knowledge of who this girl was out of his words. "I'm sure you're busy too, being…you, I guess, and all, but I really have to go."

"No, wait, not so fast" she said and blocked his only exit with her body. "Before you leave, let me give you a preview."

"A preview of what?"

"Me," she answered and slid down the zipper of her tight dress to display the even more revealing undergarments she was wearing underneath. "We can start with this unless there is something more you'd like to see…or touch…"

"I think I'm fine, thank you," he said and tried to go around her but she pressed herself against him again and her hands once more roamed around an area on him she had just tried exploring seconds before.

"Tell me what you want," she purred. "And I'll give it to you."

"What I want?" he asked and pulled her hands off him, keeping them away from his body by holding them by her wrists and in between their faces. "I want you to let me get out of here. Now."

"Why? The team can rehearse without you," she reasoned. "But I can't."

"I'm not interested, OK? I don't want to hurt you, but I will push you out of the way if you don't move. What are you doing here, anyway? Aren't you supposed to be in California or something?"

"My duties as future Homecoming Queen of Berkeley excused me from class today."

"Really? Well, why don't you go back to whatever it is that you need to do? I have to go," he said, let go of her hands and took a step around her, his left hand almost reaching the door knob.

"Not yet," she said in an angrier tone. "Not until you let me show you want I can do for you. What I could give you if we start getting to know each other better."

"Did you just not hear me say I'm not interested? Now, this is the last time I say this, _Sandra_. Let me get out of here." He retorted, only now seeing that Pepper's description of how stubborn the girl was did not do any justice to the reality of it.

"I love the way you say my name. I want you to make me say yours."

Tony flinched, unsure of whom this girl's lines reminded him of, but he was certain they were both lame. "Uh, how about 'no'."

"How about 'yes'," she said to him with a look that Tony thought it was supposed to be sexy but it was actually coming out everything but.

"OK, that's too much of that. I'm leaving now."

"No!" she spat. "If you try to leave, I will scream and claim that you tried to take advantage of me."

Now he knew who the girl's actions reminded him off, and it was not his redhead he was thinking about.

"Really?" Tony crossed his arms over his chest. "You think people will buy that with the way you're dressed right now? Besides, if you make a big deal out of nothing, neither you nor I will get to go to Homecoming, and you won't be the queen anymore, is that what you want?" he pointed out to her, not really caring if the woman was crowned or not, and actually just trying to buy his ticket out of the small enclosure and as far away from her as humanly possible.

When the blonde growled and opted to zip up her dress, Tony felt relieved. However, his victory was short lived when Sandra kissed him again, taking advantage of his crossed arms, and this time shoving her tongue down his throat. The kiss did not last long but it was enough for Tony to want to gag.

"There's more where that came from, Tony. Keep that in mind."

Tony winced and did not move as he waited for the girl to rearrange her clothes, stared at her pocket mirror to make sure her face and hair were fine, and then opened the door of the closet. "I'll see you Friday, Tony."

"I'm sure you will," he replied before a devious thought crossed his mind. "Oh, wait, one more thing," Tony said despite his need to see her be on her merry way out of his and brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. "There, now you can go."

The girl smiled, believing her actions had been somewhat successful, but they had actually not. Later on that day, when she had gotten to the airport to fly back to California, she would stop by a mirror only to see her hair was standing up in every direction, courtesy of the static shock hit Tony had given her by using a minor Extremis electric attack.

* * *

A/N: *This is an urban legend but it served the purposes of my story :) Anyone still interested on how this will turn out? What do you think Tony's plan is?


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

"You did _what_?" Pepper asked her boyfriend as she got ready to attend the Homecoming Game. She had an hour before the proceedings began, but due to having to cram her homework assignments in just a few hours rather than in days, she was just now having the chance to shower and get ready for the main event. Sandra had left the dorm early in the morning, claiming that she had an appointment with a top-notch stylist and makeup artist, and when Pepper had told her that there was only so much make-up in the world to cover her ugly face, the blonde had scoffed and walked out, slamming the door on her way out.

Tony had landed in California a couple of hours ago, but sadly he did not have the chance to meet up with Pepper until the game. He was under strict orders to stay with the marching band and not to sneak out until after his presentation during the halftime part of the football game.

_"I got static in her hair,"_ Pepper heard Tony's voice via the speakerphone of the pod as she began putting on makeup_. "I wish I'd had a camera, Pep. She looked so stupid!"_

"She's already stupid, Tony. You had a challenge on your hands," she giggled.

_"No, that wasn't a challenge,"_ he argued. _"But you know what was? I almost resorted to using cyanide as mouthwash to get rid of the taste of her lipstick."_

"Oh, you mean the one she's so proud of because it got her a kiss from _Tony Stark_? Yeah, she told me all about your 'passionate make-out session' that day she came back from MIT." Pepper said and gave herself one last look in the mirror in the bathroom. She was wearing a pair of washed blue, denim shorts, a navy blue t-shirt with the yellow Bear logo of the mascot of the college on its front, and she had taken the time to straighten out her tad longer hair she had not cut since May, and was now resting slightly below her shoulders. She completed the ensemble with athletic shoes she planned to use to haul ass from the game in case Tony's plan failed.

Her injury had recovered significantly since she had earned it, and other than some minor scabs she did not have the need to cover it anymore. She grabbed her pod from the sink, stuck the wireless piece in her ear, put the pod in her back pocket, and after grabbing some loose bills and change for the entrance booth she walked out of the dorm room.

_"I don't know why she's so proud of it,"_ Tony continued in the earpiece. _"It doesn't even look that good on her."_

"I know; that's why I haven't told her it makes her look pale."

Tony laughed. _"So, do you remember what you're supposed to do?"_

"Yes, Tony," she said and rounded the corner of the hall and headed down the emergency stairs. "I'm supposed to just be myself and make sure I'm sitting in the front row of the bleachers when you land on the field. I'm on my way there now."

_"You're just now leaving? Are you sure you'll get a front row seat?"_

"Yes, I will. I'm volunteering with assisting the team players and the cheerleaders during the game. It was the only way to be able to get to be on the field at this point since most of the good tickets had already been bought."

_ "And what about tomorrow? Did you find a dress?"_

"Yup. Although I don't know how you're going to make it so that _we _go to the dance and not you and _her_."

_ "Would you go out with a jerk?"_

"I already kinda do."

_"Hey! Cheap shot! Anyway, you said it's purple, right? I need to get a purple tie."_

"Purple tie? Why?"

_"To match with you."_

"Match? OK, Tony, you're seriously scaring me now," she chuckled and pushed open the front door of the building. "Are you sure she didn't spray you with some weird hallucination-inducing chemical? You're acting strange."

_"No, I'm not. I just need this to work perfectly; we both do, right?"_

"Yeah, I guess. So, will I get to see you before the game?"

_"No, Pep. But I'll see you during the crowning."_

"You mean when you have to kiss the witch in front of everyone?"

_"Sure, why not."_

Pepper sighed. "Whatever. I gotta go, Tony."

_"Yeah, me too. Don't sweat it, Pepper. This will work."_

"If you say so."

_ "I know so. Bye!"_

"Bye," she said and ended the call just before she began walking toward the parked and awaiting trolley that would take her to the stadium.

xxxXXXxxx

The bell blared in the stadium, calling the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the halftime show. Pepper's heart had been beating faster with every minute that had passed since the beginning of the game, knowing every second brought the moment of truth closer and closer to fruition. As Tony had expected, he had not been allowed to leave the locker rooms until his part was about to happen, even though he was supposed to land in the middle of the stage from the air when the Homecoming crowning occurred.

Pepper handed towels and a water bottle to each of the players as they ran past her, and after every break between passing athletes the ginger eyed her surroundings for the first sign that the show was about to begin. The coaches finally walked near her and thanked her for her assistance so far before they disappeared inside the tunnel that led to the changing rooms.

The redhead uneasily wrung her hands together, and despite how many deep breaths she was taking, her lungs seemed to not be able to hold enough oxygen to calm her nerves. She had nearly called Tony three times already to ask him to just not go through the plan, and had practically resigned herself to live with the witch with the way things were for her for eight more months.

The sound of MIT's marching band entering the stage caught her attention and the attention of everyone else in the stadium. Any other time, Pepper would had been knee-deep in showing school spirit, cheering and enjoying the show, but unfortunately she could not make herself care at the moment. All she wanted was this weekend – this _night_, to be over already, and she hoped that even if it did not go as planned, that it would at least not make it any worse for her.

_"Ladies and gentleman please put your hands together for the battle of the bands!"_

The announcers during the halftime show were none other than the same two student reporters that made the morning announcements on the university's close-circuit channel. As they had promised, they were dressed for the occasion, and were currently backstage, reading their lines over and over while the line of potential Homecoming Queens formed behind them. Pepper was just a few feet away from where Sandra stood, and she had to do her best to not stare at her smug smile.

Pepper felt her temperature going up, and despite how long it had taken her to straighten out her hair, she opted to hold it up in a short ponytail. Her bangs were still too short to be held back, so they rested over the side of her face, framing it in a way that made her look like a chic athlete herself. She knew she probably looked underdressed next to the regal-looking girls near her, but that was the plan: showing Sandra that her looks, money and fancy dressing meant nothing to Tony Stark.

_Settling for the commoner is going to have such a stronger meaning to her now_, Pepper thought with a sigh. The musical show was nearing its end, and it was then that Pepper's stomach began tying up in a knot. The red carpet was already unveiled over the green grass, and as the bands began breaking dancing formation to stand in rows behind the stage to play during the crowning, the eight girls that had ran for Berkeley Homecoming Queen began walking down their path.

"Let's welcome our lovely candidates, everyone," Daniel said over the microphone as he and Janet walked up the stage that had been set in the middle of the field. The sight was beautiful, Pepper had to admit it, and if she had had any interest in running for Queen, she would have admired it up close. The large platform was covered in different types of flowers, ribbons and other arrangements, and the emblem of the school rested in the middle of it, above the smiling and anxious girls. Pepper had to wonder if they knew the entire voting had been rigged, and it left the ginger with a sour taste in her mouth knowing that people still resorted to doing such low deeds.

"These rich people think they can buy their way into anything," she scoffed. "It's so unfair to everyone else." Pepper walked up closer to the stage, standing by the front row as she was supposed to. Daniel and Janet talked with each of the girls onstage, introducing every single one of them and asking them ridiculous questions such as what was their ideal date, and not surprisingly every answer that was given ended with a reference to Iron Man.

Pepper felt like throwing up even worse than she had wanted to when she had first met Greg. And then, just when she thought her nerves could not be shot even more, she had heard _them_.

_His_ repulsors.

Everyone in the stadium became quiet, and their heads looked up at the dark skies. The lights in the stadium were suddenly turned off to help make the entrance of the red and gold metal outfit that much more dramatic, and a single spotlight followed the fluid movements of the armor. Pepper swallowed hard, feeling the blood rushing to leave her head if only to aid in making worse the sensation of dizziness she was beginning to have.

As she had seen him perform many times, Iron Man flew over the platform for a second to reduce the impact of his repulsors before he landed in the middle of the stage in his well-known kneeling pose. The lights then came back to life as he slowly stood up and the immediate excited roar of the crowd was a complete contrast to the silence that had invaded the place just moments ago.

"Welcome to Berkeley, Iron Man!"

The hero nodded once to the reporters before the movement of his head told Pepper he was scanning his surroundings. The moment his helmet stopped in her direction she knew he had been looking for her. He gave her a quick salute with his hand which she returned with a smile and a small wave of her hand, and he then returned his attention to the commentators.

"We are so excited to have you here!" Daniel said and pressed the microphone onto Tony, but the inventor politely declined the invitation. He then retracted the helmet to show his face and the moment his blue eyes and smile made their appearance, every girl – and some guys, in the stadium screamed even louder than before.

Tony tapped the ear piece in his ear with his right hand to turn on the embedded microphone in it and connected it to the same frequency the speakers in the location were using. "I brought my own mic, Daniel, if you don't mind."

"Oh, of course not," Daniel said and placed a hand on Tony's armored shoulder. "We wouldn't expect any less from the great Tony Stark."

Tony chuckled nervously as he stared down at the man's hand before he cleared his throat. He then looked at the crowd surrounding the stage and over the bleachers and he waved at them with an honest smile. "Hello, Berkeley!"

One would have thought Tony had just told everyone that he was giving each and every single one of them a million bucks every year for the rest of their lives with the way they had clapped and screamed. Even if he was trying hard not to show it, Pepper knew better and could read the small signs that Tony was as nervous as she was with the execution of the plan – like the fact that his eyes would land on her every moment he could get away with it without seeming suspicious. The way he flexed his armored fingers in his free hand, and the almost imperceptible manner in which he narrowed his eyes at everyone, pretending that the spotlight was annoying the hell out of him.

To everyone else he was just showing off, but to the ginger that had known him for two years – and for Rhodey who had known him much longer, had he been around now – Tony Stark was as uncomfortable with everything around him as she was with wearing a dress tomorrow night.

"So, Iron Man – _Tony_, are you ready to read off the name of this year's Homecoming Queen?" Janet asked the inventor and handed him a sealed envelope.

Tony grabbed the envelope and nodded. He then stared at each of the girls before him and smiled at all of them. "Ladies, good luck to all of you," he said as he had been instructed to say before his eyes landed on the envelope. He took his time removing the golden seal. He then took out the folded card and opened it up, and it took all of his willpower not to roll his eyes and stick his metal finger down his throat to throw up.

"So, who is this year's Homecoming Queen?" Daniel asked.

"What happened to a having little bit of suspense, Daniel?" Tony asked, following his rehearsed lines and the crowd went wild. "Are we in a hurry, here?"

_"Come on!"_ Pepper heard some people scream in pretend desperation. Others waved their hands to hurry up the reveal of the future queen's name, and on stage Tony shrugged.

"Alright, OK. Let's get this over with, huh?"

His words made her close her eyes and she stopped breathing for a moment, her hands laced together on her chest.

"So," Tony stared at the envelope once more even though he did not need to reread the name of the girl. "I'm proud to announce this year's Berkeley University's Homecoming Queen: the one and only…"

_"Say it! Say it!"_ another man yelled from the stands.

"Miss…"

_This is it_, Pepper thought, her eyes still closed.

"Sandra Saunders!" Tony said and pointed to the girl with an open palm. The crowds immediately cheered and the other girls clapped disappointedly for the fake-crying blonde. Janet walked behind the stage and then returned with the crown in her hands and handed it to Iron Man.

"Will you do the honors, Tony?" Janet asked above the roaring crowd. "Will you please crown our Homecoming Queen?"

Tony eyed the crown for a moment before he picked it up in his hands. His eyes then landed on his redhead who was by now watching intently as he turned around in place and began walking to a wide-eyed and expectant-looking Sandra, and silently prayed that his plan worked out.


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

_It's show time_, Tony thought and closed the distance between Sandra and himself. The girl was dying of happiness, seeing her dreams coming true before her eyes. All she had to do now was kiss Tony in front of everyone, and it would settle it for her commoner of a roommate that she had been indeed seeing the rich boy for a while now, even though it was not true. The important people responsible for carrying out the event had promised her that Tony would follow along with whatever she did for the sake of the show, and she was going to make certain she took advantage of that.

"Congratulations, Miss Saunders," Tony said with a perfectly fake smile and slowly placed the crown on her head. She took a moment to adjust so it that it did not fall off from her before she looked up and smiled at the inventor.

"Thank you, honey," she said to him in a sultry tone that had thankfully not been heard by anyone else. Tony then took a step back from the girl to allow her to walk front and center on the stage and waved her hand to the bystanders as she received a bouquet of red roses. Everyone cheered, yelled, whistled or called Sandra's name, and she was eating up all the attention she could get.

"Berkeley! We present to you our Queen: Miss Sandra Saunders!" Daniel announced before he grabbed Tony's arm and dragged him with him to stand near the girl. Everyone knew what was coming, and it appeared as if they could not wait to see it coming.

_"Kiss your queen, Iron Man!"_ The inventor heard someone behind him scream, and the simple phrase quickly became a chant that echoed in every place in the arena. Tony scratched his neck and smiled, making the demands of the public resound louder than before.

_"Do it! Kiss her! Kiss your queen!"_

The scientist shrugged before he lifted his arms up in the air and made a signal with his hands to ask everyone to settle down. The command of the hero was immediately followed by the masses, and after most of the noise had been reduced to a minimum, Tony cleared his throat.

"You're making me nervous guys but, if you want me to kiss my queen, who am I to say 'no'?"

At the sound of his acceptance, Sandra began fanning her face in an exaggerated manner and everyone in the stadium began catcalling. The blonde promptly handed her bouquet to someone to hold for her for now, itching to lay her hands on Tony's armored chest. She then patted down her dress and ran her fingers down her golden tresses before she looked up at Iron Man, telling him with her wide smile and eyes to plant a big one on her.

Tony's body faced the girl, stared down at her face and smiled. His right hand then reached out to her shoulder and he patted it twice before he turned left, took a step toward the edge of the stage and jumped off to the ground beneath them. He slowly walked toward the group of people that were standing a few feet from the beginning of the platform, and everyone held their breath as they stared at the calculated moves of the inventor.

Pepper frowned at his approaching form, and when he smiled at her and winked, her eyes widened like saucers and her hands fell to her sides. _**This**__ is your great plan, Stark? SERIOUSLY?_

As if he had somehow heard her unspoken question he nodded at her. The spotlight followed the metal man until he stood before the redhead in a way that both of their figures were visible to the stage and the crowd behind them. The cameras zoomed onto the two teens just before he held her hands in his and took them up to his lips, never losing eye contact with the surprised girl. The confusion on Pepper's face was mimicked around the place, and not a word had been spoken until Daniel cleared his throat from his position on the stage.

"Uh, Tony?" the male student reporter began. "I think there's a slight misunderstanding. You…you're supposed to…what are you doing?"

Tony looked to his right, still holding Pepper's hands in his. "What do you mean what am I doing?" he responded over the microphone. "I'm about to do what you guys want me to do."

"Uh, which is…?" Janet asked.

Tony's eyes returned to Pepper and his hands abandoned hers to cup her face. "I'm going to kiss my queen," he finally answered and leaned down to kiss Pepper on the lips.

The collective gasp of the witnesses was followed by murmurs, and everyone stared at each other and back and forth between the two kissing teens and the newly elected queen on stage. Her jaw had nearly hit the center of the Earth, and her once proud posture was now a hunched one. Her eyes were glued to the way Tony held Pepper's face in his hands and how the ginger's arms surrounded his neck, and it was immediately clear to the rich girl that this was not the first time this happened between them.

Tony finally broke the kiss and smiled, and for an instant Pepper forgot the eyes of everyone were on them until she heard the voice of the confused commentators speaking up.

"Uh, Tony?" Daniel began. "What just happened?"

Tony grabbed Pepper's left hand with his right and he turned to face the stage. "You told me to kiss my queen, right? Well," he pointed down at Pepper with his left hand. "She's right here."

"I…I don't understand," Janet said, earning her nods from the other confused bystanders. "We meant her," she pointed to Sandra. "Your queen: _her_."

"There's only one queen for me, Janet," Tony said and pulled Pepper close to his chest, surrounding her waist with his hands. "My girlfriend; Pepper Potts – or Rescue, if you prefer to call her that."

The gasp of the masses was now mingled with even more catcalls and awing sounds when Tony retracted his suit of armor and ran his left hand down Pepper's cheek, still holding her in place near him with his right hand on her hip.

"Res-_Rescue_?" Sandra spat and snatched the microphone from Janet's hand. "You're _RESCUE_?"

Pepper nodded and then a microphone was shoved in between the couple by Daniel who had run down the stage at some point to get in on the drama.

"Yup, how else do you think I got this scar?" the redhead pointed to her leg. "That explosion on the bridge was no field trip, Sandra. But you know, superheroes…we do things like that," she added with a smirk, feeling more confident now that Tony's ridiculous plan seemed to be working.

"Oh, my GOD!" Daniel yelled and pulled the microphone back to him for an instant. "Here we are, bringing Iron Man to Berkeley, not knowing we have our own hero here in the ranks! Pepper, do you have anything to tell us about Tony Stark?"

"Yeah," Pepper nodded into the microphone. "I actually do."

"What is it?"

"He is the most wonderful _one-eyed, crippled hunchback_ I've ever dated in my life," she said with a smile, and while everyone else frowned in confusion, Sandra's eyes almost fell out of their sockets.

"Well, that's…strange," Daniel mumbled onto the microphone and took a step back from the couple. "But, anyway! The game must continue, so thank you, Iron Man! Congratulations…uhm…you," he pointed to Sandra, "And, welcome to Berkeley, Rescue!"

The two teens smiled brightly at each other and Tony took advantage of the noise of the crowd and the bands to disappear them both in the crowd. He pulled on Pepper's hand without stopping until they were out of the prying eyes of the masses and when they were on their own, they both began to laugh aloud.

"Did you see her face?" Tony asked, holding onto the sides of his stomach which hurt with so much laughing and resting his back against the brick walls of the hall.

"I did! I did!" Pepper said between bouts of laughter, down on the floor.

"If that doesn't show her I'm not interested, I don't know what the hell will! I so hope someone recorded this!"

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God! My cheeks," the redhead rubbed her face. "They hurt! They hurt!" and continued laughing.

"Damn!" Tony exclaimed and allowed his back to slide down the wall until he sat on the floor near his redhead. "For a second I thought it wouldn't work when they were asking me to kiss her but they didn't choose their words wisely. Oh, that was priceless."

"You could've given me a heads-up, though," Pepper hit his shoulder playfully. "I nearly passed out waiting to see what you were going to do!"

"Sorry, Pepper, I couldn't tell you. I know you would've said no if you knew what I was going to do."

"You bet your ass I would've said no. But I'm glad you did, anyway. Sometimes I underestimate your logic, huh? It wasn't the best option, but you did it for the greater good. And, I think it totally worked."

Tony's laughter died at her words, knowing that this plan was not the first time he had done something behind her back for the greater good, or for her benefit. Maybe, he thought, this was the way the universe was telling him to tell her the truth, right here, right now. Maybe it was not as bad as he thought it was going to be. They had made it this far, right? How much could it hurt to tell her what he had done…or _not _done?

"Come on, Pepper," he told her as he stood up and offered his hand to her. She accepted his help to get up from the floor, and once she was on her feet, he pulled her to him just as he had done so in front of the crowd. "Let's get out of here before someone comes looking for us."

"Aw, man," the redhead whined and rested her palms on his chest. "Sandra will now leave me alone for sure, but everyone else is going to follow us around, aren't they?"

Tony gave her an apologetic smile. "Probably, but only until the shock wears off."

"That could take months, Tony…maybe even years!"

"Maybe, but you'll need to get used to the celebrity stalking if you're going to be with me for the rest of your life, right?"

Just as with the grandkids comment, Pepper had to look down and hide her blushing face from him. And, just as before, Tony had no idea what he had just said until his mind had the courtesy of replaying the words in his mind.

This time, however, he was not going to pretend he had not just blatantly insinuated his deep commitment to her. "Right, Pepper? That's what happens when you fall for an arrogant, rich boy. I mean, I'm prepared to live with the fact that your dad can have the INTERPOL up my ass in no time, but it's worth the risk if I can be with you."

"Don't say things like that if you don't mean them, Tony," she whispered to his t-shirt where she hid her face from him.

"I mean them, Pep. That's why I say them. And that's why I…why I have something to confess to you."

"Confess?" Pepper asked, finally staring up at him.

"Yes," he nodded and pressed her back against the wall. "It's important, Pepper, and…"

"HEY! There they are!"

"Oh, shit!" Tony said and grabbed Pepper by the hand, pulling her with him and ran down the hall. Behind them a load of reporters who had been told about the events of the Homecoming Game at Berkeley had hauled ass to the location, trying to get a few words from the teen couple. Tony cursed their bad timing, but perhaps this was another sign of the universe telling him to wait a little bit longer.

"Tony, they're closing in! They're going to catch us!"

"No, they're not," the inventor said and tapped the center of his backpack. The armor immediately covered his body, and before the reporters could get a good picture of the scene, Tony grabbed Pepper by the waist and in the blink of an eye flew them both out of the place.

Behind the wall the redhead and the brunette had just been standing by, an angry blonde and her cousin stood by, processing the information they had just heard from the hero couple. Sandra's blotched eyes were filled with rage, and by her feet lay a stomped over bouquet of flowers and a bent crown.

"You were supposed to get her in trouble, Greg! That's what I'm paying you for!"

"I know, Cuz, but you didn't tell me she was dating Iron Man! I ain't getting my ass handed to me by him! Can you imagine what he could do to me? What he would have done if I had done to her what you asked me to do?"

"You weren't supposed to actually sleep with her, you moron!" The blonde spat. "Only make it look like it so she would get expelled!"

"Well, I'm glad she knocked me out…although I still don't remember how she did that. If I had done more to her…he'd probably cut off my balls for that."

"_I'm_ going to cut them, Greg! You're as useless as always! Why the hell do I keep paying you to do shit for me?"

"Hey, chillax, Sandy! At least I didn't tell them you gave me the cardkey to break into your dorm room."

"And it better stay that way."

"It will!" he raised his hands to either side of his face. "It will, I promise. So, what now? There's no way you're getting her in trouble now. No one's gonna want to mess with Rescue…or Tony Stark's girlfriend."

Sandra scoffed. "If they're even really dating. Maybe they're just pretending."

"Oh, _hell_ no. She told me she had a boyfriend. She told_ you_ she had a boyfriend, and according to you, Pepper Potts went to a school in New York, right? Well, Tony Stark graduated from the Tomorrow Academy in New York. I bet you that's where she graduated from, too."

"Ugh! It can't be him, though. The flowers she got were signed by someone with initials S.S."

"S.S.?" Greg asked as he took out his phone and began browsing the web. "Maybe Tony's middle name starts with S? I'm sure one of those S's is for Stark."

"His middle name is 'Edward'."

"HA!" Greg said and showed his phone's screen to the girl. "Got it! The flowers _were_ from him."

"What? How?" The blonde asked and grabbed the phone in her hands. She read the page Greg had pulled up, and when her eyes narrowed and her fists shook, Greg knew she had come to the same conclusion.

"That bitch," she whispered before she threw the phone on the ground.

"Hey! I just bought that!"

"No, I bought it for you, now shut up and let's go."

"Go, where?"

"I have a plan. If they think they can mock me in front of everyone, they've got another thing coming. Sandra Saunders can also play dirty; _real_ dirty."

Greg took a deep breath and picked up his now broken phone from the floor, and even though he wanted no part in whatever plans his cousin had against Iron Man, he had no choice but to follow the blonde.


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Pepper had expected her roommate to show up at some point during the night to start a fight with her, but she had definitely not. Tony had even waited until midnight to return the redhead to her dorm room, and Pepper had hardly slept at all, startling herself awake with any noise she heard during the night. Between making sure a crazy Sandra did not stab her in her sleep and wondering about what confession Tony had been about to make to her last night, the redhead had had just an hour of sleep.

Thankfully, Tony had sneaked out of his college-paid hotel room and gotten them one for the two of them to spend the rest of the weekend in. Pepper thought getting a room far away from the campus was a waste of money since the dance was going to take place on campus – practically next door to her building, in fact – but he had insisted that they needed to stay out of the spotlight before and after said event. Besides, with only a few hours before they had to start getting ready to go, Pepper knew she could use a quick nap in a place she did not have to worry about being ambushed by an angry, spoiled girl.

He had woken her up via phone about an hour ago, and the ginger now tried her best to keep her eyes open while she packed her bags. She had suggested not attending the dance after all, but Tony had insisted that arriving together to the affair would solidify it in Sandra and everyone else that they were serious about dating. Pepper had reluctantly agreed, and after remembering that she, Rhodey and Tony had spent their prom night in high school completing a mission, she decided that she had in fact earned the right to enjoy at least one school dance with the inventor by her side.

The beep of her phone signaling a text had just arrived made her shake her head to force herself not to fall asleep standing up. She yawned and saw that Tony had just landed on the roof of her building, so she hurried up and zipped her bag. Her eyes landed on her temporary armor backpack, wondering if she should take it with her, but after remembering that Tony's armors were coded only for themselves, the idea that Sandra could try to mess with it quickly slipped away.

She gave the room one last look before she slung the bag across her chest and in her free hands she held her covered dress. She wanted to surprise Tony with the outfit she had chosen to wear, and she hoped that the inventor would not take a peek when she passed out for the nap she knew she was going to take. She then walked down the hall, opened the door and let it close itself before she reached the emergency stairs and began going up. It took her longer than usual because she was that exhausted, but once she arrived on the roof, Tony relieved her of having to use her feet and immediately picked her up in his armored arms.

"Tired, babe?"

"Sleep. Bed. Now."

"Alright," Tony chuckled and took to the skies. Some time on their way to the hotel room's private balcony – to avoid being seen walking in together – the redhead had passed out. The inventor laid her on the only bed of the room before he retracted his suit and grabbed her bag and the dress. He rested the bag on the couch and hung the dress in the closet next to his tuxedo, and he then returned to stare at the redhead.

He slowly took off his armor backpack and dropped it on the floor as quietly as possible so as not to wake her. He then walked around the bed and pulled down the covers before walking over to Pepper and took off her shoes. He picked her up in his arms again and slid her under the covers, making sure to put the blankets back on her. He then took off his shoes and his shirt, turned off the lights, set the alarm for four in the afternoon, and joined the ginger in the bed, passing out almost immediately after his head hit the pillow.

The redhead had not known, but he had also not slept well last night as he had been getting ready to finally come clean with her tonight.

xxxXXXxxx

Tony Stark sat by the end of the bed, elbows resting on his legs and his back hunched. He was already dressed up in his tuxedo, purple tie and all, and all he needed was his lady by his side. The dance had begun half an hour ago, but the couple had chosen not to be there when it all started, opting to walk in later on in the hopes that their presence would be unannounced. Tony had rented a car but he had parked it a few blocks away from the hotel. The plan was for Pepper to put on the suit and use the stealth armor feature to walk out with Tony through the front door. They would then walk up to the car and drive to the place, and the process would repeat on their way back.

Tony eyed his watch again, and felt pathetic when he realized he had only seen it about fifteen seconds ago. Pepper had been taking her time getting ready for their first dance together, and he would be lying if he said he was not nervous about it. Maybe not as nervous as the night she had discovered her picture in his pod, but it was quickly growing to be that way. Maybe even more as the night went by.

_ After the dance, after we come back here, I'm going to tell her the truth, and we are not leaving this room until she forgives me. I'm __not__ losing her for a stupidity. I'm going to make her understand why I did it._

The door to the bathroom finally opened, and Pepper came out of the confinement she had been in for the last hour. She was still barefoot, but all Tony could see was how beautiful she looked. The dress she had chosen to wear was extremely simple, but because it was simple it made her natural beauty stand out even more.

The fabric was of satin and of one single color, which coincidentally matched the purple of her Rescue outfit. It was an A-line, strapless, sleeveless, knee-length dress that hugged her chest and waist, and then flowed down in waves. The simplicity of it was enhanced by a white sash she wore around her waist, tied in a bow on the left side. She wore her hair up in a loose sideways bun, and some of her red tresses had been curled and framed her face. She was wearing a jewelry set of gold hoop earrings, a necklace, a ring, and several bracelets on her right wrist.

"Tony, have you seen the box for my shoes?" she asked him as she walked over to the couch and the eyes of the scientist followed her every move. "I thought I'd left it here."

When the inventor did not immediately respond, Pepper turned around and tilted her head at him, narrowing her eyes when he just stared at her silently. "Tony? Did you hear what I said?"

The boy blinked a few times before he cleared his throat and shook his head. He then stood up from the bed and walked up to her. He held her hands in his and took a step back to look her up and down, smiling as he did so. "Pep, you look amazing."

Pepper gave him a slightly embarrassed smile and looked to the side, feeling the rush of blood filling her face. "You…you don't look too shabby either, Stark."

They both chuckled and Tony walked her over to the bed, leading her to sit by the edge of it. He then walked over to where he had moved their luggage and grabbed the shoebox. He took out the dainty pair of gold, strappy heels and returned to kneel on the floor in front of her.

"Tony, what are you…oh!"

The ginger's question was answered when the inventor grabbed her right foot and slid on the appropriate shoe and carefully strapped it on around her ankle. He repeated the same procedure with her left foot and all the while the ginger bit her lip as she watched him work on his task as cautiously and precisely as she had seen him work on his most precious inventions back at the lab. Once he returned her foot to the ground he looked up at her with a smile similar to one of a little boy who had just finished doing something he immediately expected praise from.

"Thank you, Tony. That was very sweet of you," she delivered what he was expecting and his smile grew wider.

He stood up from the floor and offered her his right palm facing up, and she took it to help herself climb up from the bed. He guided her arms to rest on his shoulders and grabbed onto her waist and began slowly swinging them from side to side.

"I guess I do look like a stripper now, huh?" The redhead asked with an impossible smile plastered on her face. "Stilettos and all?"

"Stilettos?" he repeated and his eyes stared up and to the side as he thought about her question. "I think that'd make you a hooker, not a stripper."

Pepper threw her head back in laughter, and before she was to return it to its original position, Tony leaned over to it and placed a few kisses down her neck. Pepper closed her eyes and let him have his fun for a few seconds before she broke the tension that was building between them with words. "As good as that feels, we need to get going."

"Do we have to?" he whined and swapped sides on her neck.

"Do we have to?" she practically snorted. "You're the one who said we _have_ to go."

"Maybe I changed my mind," he retorted and pulled her body closer to his.

Pepper scoffed. "Oh, no! You made me go through the trouble of getting ready for the dance, so now you're making it worth the while!"

Tony's pulled his face from her neck and stared down at her, his blue-eyes deeper than she had ever seen them before. "We don't have to go to the dance to make it worth the while, Pepper. I can make it worth _your _while right here."

If her heart had been racing before, it was now flying at Mach 1 speed with the way he was staring at her. She swallowed hard to calm herself and took in a deep breath to find her voice. "Let's finish what we started, Tony. We can talk about this at another time."

"You promise?" he asked, not certain if there would be another time after tonight if his efforts to make things right for her did not go as planned.

"I promise."

Taking what he could get for now, he took a moment to give her a long kiss, and after he had his fill for now, he called on his backpack suit and helped Pepper put it on. He then pressed the button to have it cover the ginger's body, and after every inch of her was protected by the suit, she activated the stealth-mode feature of it.

"Wait," she said when they had begun heading to the door. "I forgot my pod."

"It's alright. I'm not letting you be by yourself, Potts. You won't need it tonight."

"I guess you're right," she said in Iron Man's distorted voice. "It's just a dance, right. What could possibly go wrong?"

After tonight, Pepper Potts would learn not to ever, ever, _ever_ ask that question again.

* * *

**A/N:** If you want to see Pepper's dress (different fabric, though), check out the link on my profile. I'm going to work on my project now (seems I won't be able to finish this story this weekend after all), so let me know if you would like me to continue it next weekend. I've seen a decline in readers and reviews, so I have to wonder if I'm writing this for myself…and my husband, who is dying to know what's going to happen next :) For those of you who have reviewed: thank you lots and lots and lots.


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

Pepper could not think of another time she had had so much fun in her entire life, despite how much her feet were hurting now after how long she had been dancing with Tony tonight. Well, there had been that time when she had earned her first black belt back when she was only ten years old – a great accomplishment according to her father, even though for her it had just been fun to be able to kick and punch people she did not like and not get in trouble. Plus that time she got to pilot the Iron Man armor for the first time – whew, what a blast that had been! Today, however, this very moment in time when Tony twirled her around, laughed with her, and then caught her in his arms when she became dizzy from the sudden dance turns, was much, much, MUCH better than that.

For the two years they had known each other, the redhead and the inventor had truly never had a chance to spend quality time alone together doing something that was not of life-and-death importance. Any time they had been by themselves so far, had been due to her doing research at his lab on some recent criminal activity while he worked on restoring the Iron Man armor. Other times they had been together had been due to them being captured or having gone on a mission, but there was always some important matter happening around them that would get in the way of being able to enjoy their company as she would have liked them to do so all those times: just as they did right now.

This night.

Right now.

This moment.

This moment when they believed that there were no other people in the world but them. As if after tonight they did not have to go their separate ways again. As if he was not Iron Man and she was not Rescue. As if Pepper did not have to return to live with a woman who would be bitter at her for the rest of her life. As if they were normal teenagers whose only worry was when the next major school test would be.

As if Tony had not made a decision that had changed her life against her will, knowledge and agreement.

Even when she had dragged his complaining butt downtown with her to buy shoes, their pretend-date had been interrupted by Andros Stark. Later on that day, Tony had gone back with her to the place where he had dropped her shoes and while most of them had not been taken or scratched, some of them were no longer usable. A few days later, Pepper had received their replacements in the mail, courtesy of a very-sorry Tony Stark, and that night Tony had received a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek for his troubles.

He so hoped that would be the case tonight, too.

Despite the fact that the event was supposed to be limited to Berkeley or MIT students and faculty only, the couple had been able to spot some reporters who had somehow managed to sneak in using fake student ID's. Tony had quickly put a stop to their attempts at getting _exclusive_ pictures of the dancing couple by using Extremis to fry their electronic devices, just as he had learned he could do when he had thought Pepper had died.

It appeared that good things did actually come out from bad ones.

This time, however, there would be no replacing the devices of the reporters who seemed to be stopping at nothing to get a story. Did they not understand that he just wanted to spend some quality time with his redheaded girl? Why did someone always try to meddle in their personal lives?

_Get used to it, Stark_, he reminded himself. Just as he had told Pepper last night, paparazzi were going to be the norm from now on. Now that he was an adult – and so was she, there was no holding back for the media. His dad had warned him about the faceless enemies, and just as he had feared, the non-super villain enemies were proving to be much more difficult to get rid of than Technovore had been.

But frankly, right now he did not give a damn.

"I can't do this anymore, Tony," the girl said between giggles. She surrounded his shoulders with her arms to support herself, and alternated between lifting one burning foot and the other from the ground. "My feet hurt like hell!"

"Just take the shoes off, Pep!" He responded and surrounded her left thigh with his right arm, pulling it up near his hip as he had seen done on television. "We only have an hour before this is over."

"I think I can spend the last hour sitting down and making fun at the way people dance."

"You mean the same way we're probably being judged right now?"

"I guess so," she responded, tapping her chin with her right index finger. "All the more reason to sit down."

"Alright, Pepper," he let go of her leg. "But you owe me a slow dance," he said and as if on cue, the upbeat music changed to a slow-tempo one. Pepper narrowed her eyes at him, silently questioning if he had any involvement in the changing of the song, but he shook his head vehemently. "Not me, I swear."

"Fine, one last song, but I gotta get these shoes off," the redhead stated.

Tony nodded at her before he kneeled down on the floor, and despite the ginger's complaints that this was not the place to do what he was doing, Tony held her feet firmly in his hands and took off her shoes. By the time he stood up and held her hips with his hands while the shoes dangled from his right pants pocket by their heels, Pepper's face was the same color as her hair.

"Miss Potts," he began with a satisfied smile. "I believe you are embarrassed right now."

"Oh, shut it, Tony," she spat, trying to control her reddening face. "You should really learn when it's OK to do these things, and when it's not."

"Why is it not OK right now? You said your feet hurt, I want another dance with you, and I can help. I don't see what the problem is."

"People are _staring_!" she said between clenched teeth but did not stop their dance.

"So? Let them stare. It'll save me the trouble of resorting to testing my new invention on them – particularly the guys."

"What new invention?"

"A neutering machine," he smirked.

"Tony!" she smacked his chest. "Stop marking your damn territory; that's _so_ not you."

"Maybe it is me," he suggested. "Maybe I didn't know it _was_ me until I met you."

She blushed again but this time she did not complain and opted to simply pull herself closer to him and closed her eyes, letting him lead the dance. Tony closed his eyes too, snaking his arms around her waist and practically hugging her twice, his chin resting on the top side of her head.

"What's gonna happen now, Tony?" she whispered to him.

"What do you mean?"

"Tomorrow you go back to MIT, and I stay here. How are we going to make this work?"

"Same way we've done so far. See each other when we can. Use the phone when we can't. Spend holidays together."

"How long?"

"How long what?"

"How long will that be enough?"

"Until it's not needed anymore. Until I can make you my…"

_"Ladies and gentlemen, what a lovely night, isn't?"_ Daniel's voice said over the speakers and pulled everyone out of their thoughts. The slow song still played in the background, but it was obvious that the closing of the dance was about to come. The couples that were on the dance floor slowly returned to their tables, and in a matter of seconds everyone's eyes were on the front of the ballroom.

"This has been an amazing Homecoming week," Daniel continued. "I'm so blessed to have been here in Berkeley this year. I think we all had some fun, didn't we?" the student reporter asked and received positive responses from the crowd. "What about you, Janet?"

"It's been incredible," she said with a nod. "But, like we all know, good things must come to an end, and this amazing experience does, too."

"Sadly, you're correct," Daniel said. "But, before we can call it a night, let's take some time to thank those who made it possible, such as SGA, the board members of Berkeley and MIT, the student body of MIT and Berkeley, Iron Man, and of course, the woman who made this all possible – our Queen – Miss Saundra Saunders," Daniel said and pointed to the left side of the stage where Sandra appeared from.

The spotlight followed the blonde who had not been seen during the entire dance until now. She was handed one of the microphones and she waved at her _royal subjects_ with a bright smile. The crowd clapped for her and called out her name, not forgetting to use her title for the year. Once the cheering died down, Sandra cleared her throat and spoke up.

"Thank you, everyone. Let's not forget this is a team effort, and every single one of you made this week what it was: a success. Like Daniel said, I couldn't be prouder to be a Bear, a member of Berkeley University. We all earned our spots here, and we should enjoy the benefits of it, right?"

The masses agreed with the girl, and the redhead and Tony snickered at the way the rich blonde was acting as if the title of Queen was actually real.

"I can't take all the credit, though. Tony Stark has a lot to do with this week's events, even if he's not a Berkeley student, his actions helped this happen for all of us. Thank you, Tony," she said and pointed to the inventor's table. Another spotlight came up and landed on Tony and Pepper, and he smiled and waved at the crowd.

"Thank you, again," Sandra said and she snapped her fingers toward the person handling the spotlight on the hero couple to keep it on them. "I love it when everything goes well, and there is no Queen that doesn't enjoy the good times with her people, but unfortunately not everything can remain perfect forever, right?"

She gave the attendees a moment to process her words, and the inventor's stomach began to churn.

"What I'm trying to say is that as your Queen, I have to be the bearer of good news, and bad, and while I hate to close the day on a sour note, it's my responsibility to unmask the lie we have all been made to believe."

The room went silent and since the spotlight was still on Pepper and Tony, everyone's eyes landed on them.

"As I said before, each and every single one of us here has earned their spot in Berkeley or MIT. We all had to jump through hoops that are in place so that only the best make it to our wonderful university. Many tried to join us and failed because the decision-makers of the Admissions Committee decided that they did not have what it took to join our ranks. Everyone in here earned their right to be here…everyone…but one."

If the couple had not been feeling the pressure building before, they were feeling it now.

"I'm sure most of you think that I'm referring to Tony Stark, but you would be incorrect. Tony Stark did not apply to a multitude of colleges, just one, and MIT made the wise decision of accepting his application as he met and exceeded every requirement on their admissions list.

My concern is not with Tony Stark, however. My concern is Patricia Potts."

The murmuring of the people around them did not wait, and Pepper could feel the pointing fingers as if they were embedding themselves onto her skin.

"Pepper Potts, as we all know her, has been claiming to be here thanks to a scholarship she applied for and earned, making all of us think that she too had to go through the same red tape we all did. Yet, I've discovered that this is not the case." The blonde pointed her palm to the big screen behind her, and it immediately switched from showing her face to showing a copy of a paper that was not immediately recognized by anyone in the room.

_She knows_, Tony gulped with wide eyes, and felt the questioning eyes of his girlfriend on him.

"This is a copy of the statement of charges for Miss Potts' student account. It may not be clear what we are looking at first glance, but I can explain to you what it says; what it proves. Simply put, someone of limited means such as her would have had to rely on a generous benefactor to fulfill her goal of affording the best education money could buy. This benefactor would have demanded she kept her academic standing to an acceptable level; one I know she would have not been able to maintain. As such, and knowing this, she resorted to less honorable means to pay for her education here at Berkeley: she blackmailed Tony Stark."

The redhead stood up from her chair and shook her head, pointing at Sandra on stage as she spoke. "That's not true! I do have a scholarship that Berkeley gave me! A full ride! You're lying, and I know why you're lying, Saunders!"

"Oh, do you? Am I lying, Potts? Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Potts and I are roommates, and as all of you with a live-in peer, I'm certain you understand that in such small, closed quarters, it is impossible to keep things a secret for long. I have to admit she did keep her Rescue identity a secret for a long time, but I can see how that particular lie was justified. However, she told me – she told all of us that she had been bestowed with an academic scholarship but she was not."

"That's enough out of you, Sandra!" Tony said, trying to stop what he knew was to come.

"But I'm not done, Tony. Why would you want me to not say the truth? Are you ashamed of it…or…maybe…maybe you haven't told her the truth yourself? Is that it?"

Tony's hands went cold when Pepper's head snapped to stare at him with a fearful look on her face. "Tony?"

"Tony Stark," Sandra continued as she walked down the stage and toward the inventor's table. "Has been paying for Miss Potts' education; every expense she has incurred in has been graciously covered by his funds," she stopped in front of Pepper and handed her piece of paper. "See for yourself, Potts."

Pepper snatched the paper from her hands, confirmed that it was in fact her own statement of charges she was holding, and read the lengthy list of transactions on it, every single one showing the same payer's name: SSINC, or Stark Solutions Incorporated. Her eyes shifted from the paper to Sandra, and then to Tony who could not think of anything to say to her right now.

"But it doesn't stop there," the blonde said and walked back to the stage. "I guess one would expect that the wealthy boyfriend of Pepper Potts would have no qualms to subsidize her education, but this act is not all Tony has done for his girlfriend…even before she was his so-called girlfriend."

"She knows everything," Tony mumbled, but in the dead silence around him, Pepper heard his words as clear as day.

"Knows what? Tony, is she telling the truth?"

"The truth shall set you free," Sandra said. "And the whole truth here is that Miss Potts is the one person I was referring to not having to jump through the same hoops we all did to be here. She didn't have to do it because Tony Stark pulled some strings so that she could come here without lifting a finger. She did not take the admissions test. She did not fill out the forms. She did not have to go on an interview. She did not have to meet the academic requirements at all. She is here because he paid the board to have her admitted here, no questions asked…and probably in exchange for the only currency she could give in return: a currency that only a loose woman like her could give…Need I say more? I think their activities behind closed doors are very clear to us."

Pepper's stinging eyes looked over the paper in her hands once more before her body faced Tony's completely. Everyone else in the room was silent and stared at the couple with disappointed faces, and some even went as far as mumbling less than sympathetic words at the redhead.

"Tony," she swallowed hard. "Is this…is this true? All of it?"

Tony swallowed the lump in his throat and stood up. This was not how he had wanted things to go. This was not what he had planned. This was what he had feared would happen all along. "I…" he took in a sharp breath. "I was going to tell you…tonight."

The inventor's confession was followed by a gasp and even louder and ruder comments made themselves known. Pepper tried her best to ignore the roaring of the crowd's accusing words and finger pointing, but with all eyes on her, the proof in her hands, and Tony's guilt-ridden face staring at her, she could not hide herself from the reality of the situation.

"How…could you…?" she bit her lip and blinked, sending the first trails of tears down her cheeks. She crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it at his face, and he did not even try to avoid being hit.

"I don't think Miss Potts deserves to be here. What does everyone else think?" Sandra asked and the response from the angry crowd toward the both of them was exactly what she was hoping it would be.

Pepper's eyes scanned the room – or as much as she could with tears blocking her sight. The irritated faces of everyone and the smug smile of accomplishment was the last straw for her, and forgetting she still had no shoes on, she did the only thing she could think to do: she ran.

* * *

**A/N:** AWWW! *cries tears of joy* Thank you all for the responses! I honestly thought this story was so bad no one really gave a crap about it. Thank you all, especially SiverPedals1402 who went back and reviewed every single chapter just now :) Did anyone have a clue this was what Tony had done? Maybe I will finish the story this weekend? Who wants that?


	26. Chapter 25

**A/N: **So, what Tony did was not _that_ bad, but like Arihimew said, it was the _way_ she found out that made it horrible. I sense another lynching of a female character I've made up is about to happen.

* * *

**Chapter 25**

"Pepper, wait!" Tony reacted almost immediately, and ignored the looks and strings of curse words that followed their paths out of the ballroom. The redhead picked up the pace, but it was impossible for her to outrun Tony Stark, and he quickly caught up with her halfway to her dorm room building, which was just two buildings down from the school's event center. "Pepper, stop! Listen to me!"

"No!" she spat and tried pulling her hand from his, but he only tightened it up even more. "I can't believe this, Tony! I can't believe you'd do this to me!"

"It's not how it looks like, I swear!" He shifted her position so that she would face him completely.

"There you go again," she scoffed and finally pulled her arm from him and crossed hers over her chest. She could not stare at his face, and even though it was obvious that she was upset, crying and could barely keep from screaming, she did not run away from him again; not until she let him know what she thought about him. "Don't you have anything better to say? This is just…there are no words…you…you've been _using_ me all along!"

"_Using_ you?" He was taken aback. "Using you for what, exactly?"

"Your company's profit tax write-off efforts? Charity-project? Sex? I don't know what else? You…you _lied_ to me, Tony! _All_ this time!"

"Sex? Pepper, we haven't even…"

"_Yet_, we haven't yet…but…" she narrowed her eyes at him. "But, you've tried to... you…GOD! Sandra's right! You've been charging my debt to you…you've only…you don't really love me!" she cried.

"WHAT?!"

"Rhodey was right…Whitney was right…I…I should've listened!" she covered her face with her hands and sobbed. The inventor wanted to ask what Rhodey and Whitney had said to the redhead that would support the claim that he did not care for her, but his need to explain to her why he had done what he had was more important to him right now.

"Pepper, please…" he tried resting his shaking hands on her shoulders, but she pulled back.

"NO!" she pushed his chest away from hers. "You've been pretending…pretending everything, Stark! You've pretended to be my friend…pretended to miss me…to…to…I really believed you…I believed you loved me…"

"I haven't pretended anything, I swear to you! I've been nothing but honest with you all this time!"

"Honest, really?" she rested her left hand on her hip and gestured with her right hand as she spoke. "Is it honest to let me think I had earned the right to be here? Is it honest to tell me I had won a scholarship that never existed in the first place? Is that your definition of honesty?"

"OK," he conceded by raising his hands to the sides of his head in a defeated manner. "Beyond that – for which, by the way, I have a _very_ good explanation for, I have not lied to you, Pepper. I didn't pretend to be your friend. I didn't pretend to miss you – I honestly did, I still do when you're not with me. It hurts that we're so far apart, Pep. It eats me up…"

"Shut up! Stop lying to me!" she raised her voice.

"I'm NOT lying to you!" he retorted louder than her. "Why would you think I'd lie about something as serious as loving you, Pepper? I could have any girl I wanted in MIT; someone who isn't 3-motherfucking-thousand miles away from me! I could have a _different_ girl in my bed every night if I so wanted to, but I _don't_ want to. I want you; just _you_. Even if you're not with me every day. Even if it would be so much easier to date someone local, I don't. I don't because you're the one I fell in love with it. I didn't plan to love as much as I do, but it happened, Pepper…I can't stop…please…don't ask me to stop…"

Pepper wanted to believe his words, his submissive posture, but she could not. Whitney's words, Rhodey's warnings, Sandra's spectacle just now, and the comments she herself had heard from Tony a few days after they had met held more weight than his current pleading words. "I guess I shouldn't ask you for more, huh? You might rack up my interest on that loan," she said bitterly.

"Fuck, Pepper!" He threw his hands in the air. "It's not charity, it's not a loan…it's…it's…"

"Something I had to hear from Sandra, instead of you, and in front of the entire school?"

"I was_ going_ to tell you, tonight, in fact. I've been _trying_ to tell you since it happened."

"Since _what_ happened? Since you decided to use me to get whatever it is that you want? I bet Margie is your real girlfriend at MIT. I'm surprised those dorks of your roommates didn't tell me when I was there. Then again, you're paying for their hookers, so why would they backstab their _benefactor_, right?"

"No, no, no!" he spat and closed his eyes. "You have it all wrong, Pepper. Let me explain…let me tell you the truth…" he cupped her face in his hands and rested his forehead on hers. Hearing his breaking voice and feeling tears on his face, the redhead's anger slipped away for an instant, but when she remembered she had known of one of his façades beforehand, she groaned and pulled back.

"No, Tony," she gulped, wiped tears from her face, and sniffed. "I'm not falling for it again. I've already overlooked the fact that you've only pretended to be my friend so I could get you the information you needed from the FBI database. I won't stand for more of your lies. I just…I won't." She turned around and began walking away from him at a fast pace toward her dorm building and Tony's feet immediately reacted and followed closely behind.

"Stop! Please…LISTEN!" He cried and hardly had enough time to run inside the front lobby of her building before she locked the door behind her. She began stomping her way up the stairs, and he knew their screams would be heard through the halls, but at this point he was so desperate he did not care.

"It's only been _one_ lie, Pep, and it wasn't planned."

"No. I don't want to hear it. Leave me alone," she pointed at him and the door downstairs before she begun going up the second set of stairs.

"I don't care if you don't want to hear it; you're going to, because I can't let this be ruined for something that you have all wrong. Something you don't understand."

"Something I don't understand?" she scoffed and picked up her pace. "I understand perfectly that you told Rhodey that even if he recommended you didn't listen to everything I said, you would still 'keep me around' to find out more about your enemies."

Tony stopped in his tracks, shocked that Pepper even knew about what he had said in the past. He swallowed hard again, and when he realized Pepper was almost by her door, he sped down the hall and stood between her and the entrance to her dorm room, stopping her just in time when she was partially lifting her skirt to take out her cardkey from the garter belt she was wearing. His mouth opened a little when he realized what he was looking at, but he quickly recovered his senses knowing this was not the time to admire her like that.

"OK, you're right. I'll admit it. I did say that, but only because I didn't know you better. Rhodey warned me that you were weird, a little bit on the crazy side, nosey and the last person I wanted around when I was trying so hard to keep people from finding out I am Iron Man. I'd known Rhodey longer than I'd known you, so I took his word for it."

Pepper's posture showed him that for an instant she had found logic in what he had said, but when she saw the crumbled paper Tony had managed to bring with him from the dance, she pushed him out of the way. "Go home, Tony. And stay there."

"No! Pepper! Please!" He moved back to his previous position between her and the door, and when Pepper's hands turned into fists, he gulped but chanced to rest his hands on her tight ones. "That's not the entire story, Pepper."

"Oh, there's more lies?" She spat and shoved his hands off her.

"Not lies. I didn't know then you were such a great person, Pepper. I didn't know then that I'd bond with you so much and so quickly. Even Rhodey was surprised to get to know you like that. Even he admitted that he had been wrong…and we both truly and honestly began seeing you as our friend. We still do."

"Is this what you do to your friends? Are you paying for Rhodey's school, too? Did you also get him into the Air Force Academy with a _donation_?"

"No, he didn't need the help like you did," he answered quickly and without thinking, and when he felt his head snap to the side and the world spin as he fell to the floor, he realized Pepper had just gone black-belt on his ass and had punched him.

"It's over, Tony," she said in between sobs and renewed tears. "It's so over between us…" she added as she slid the cardkey into the slot and pushed open the door. She took a step inside and before her body completely walked inside the room, she looked down at a still recovering inventor. "Then again, it was all a lie, right? So, technically it never really started. You never had feelings for me…and I don't have a future in Berkeley anymore now that everyone knows I cheated my way here…it's all over for me…for us…thanks a lot, Stark."

Tony stood up from his position on the floor and tried to keep the door from closing on his face, but he was not fast enough. He rested his hands over the door and pounded on it, not caring that some people were coming out of their rooms and out into the halls to watch him break down. "Pepper, don't do this. Please, please don't do this."

The redhead did not respond, opting to cover her face with her hands as she cried harder than before and slid her back down the door when her trembling legs gave in. Tony looked down at the floor, and when he saw a little bit of Pepper's dress was showing under the door, he got down on his knees and rested his forehead on the cold metal door. "I know you can hear me, Pepper. And I know you want to know why I did it. Even if you say you don't care why, I know you do."

On the other side of the door, Pepper closed her eyes and removed her hands from her face, resting her head against the door and listened to every word he said despite her anger telling her he did not deserve the chance to explain his actions to her.

"Listen, do you…do you remember the night you, me and Rhodey were up until three in the morning filling out applications for college and for scholarships? It was a few days after I fought Agent Mallen… after I injected myself with Extremis.

"Do you remember what we had been talking about when walked with you to S.H.I.E.L.D.? We were talking about colleges and turning eighteen, and…and then a few days later we realized we hadn't sent any applications anywhere. And then Rhodey kept bugging us to start already, saying that with all the missions we always ended up having to do, if we waited until the end we would miss the deadline?" he chuckled when he remembered when Rhodey had swamped every place in the house with post-it notes with a countdown of the deadline to submitting college applications and essays.

"Anyway, we finally got tired of listening to Rhodey bitch about it, right? So we all got together and spent that day filling out forms and typing up essays and helping each other in the lab …well, it was more of me helping you guys, since I was only applying for MIT, and you were applying everywhere.

"You guys were so mad at me that I only had to fill out one application and it didn't help that I was being my typical arrogant self, mocking you guys for having to repeat the process so many times. You got so mad at me for it…even more than Rhodey, and you said that the least I could do was driving over to the nearest mailbox and sending out yours and Rhodey's applications."

The ginger's eyes snapped open, remembering the exact moment Tony was describing to her.

"So, after hours of sitting there, you guys finally finished, and I felt bad for acting like a jerk – I really did, Pepper. So I took upon your demand and said I would send in the forms for you and Rhodey. I really planned on doing that for you guys. I honestly wanted to make it up to you."

Pepper straightened out her head and shifted it to her left; listening intently as Tony's muffled voice continued his story. Tears were still falling down her face and she had an idea of what he was about to tell her – to _confess_ to her, but she could not bring herself to forgive him just yet.

"You finally said you had to leave after your dad sent you an angry text, asking where you were so late at night, and even though Rhodey and I wanted to walk you home, you said you were fine. Do you remember what you did before you left? Do you remember what you said to me?"

"_Listen to me, Stark," Pepper poked her index finger on the boy's chest. "You may not have to worry about where you go for college or how to pay for it, but we less intelligent people do. So you better not screw this up for us! I'm trusting you to send these out for us, especially me! I'm going to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent one day, and not just because you won't make me a suit, but because they have jetpacks. This is the greatest decision of my life, and if your forgetful butt ruins my one chance to earn a college degree, I will put on your beloved suit and kill you dead with it! GOT IT?"_

_Tony had to hold back a chuckle and bit the inside of his mouth to do so. He gave the redhead a salute and stood up straight before he spoke again. "Yes, ma'am, yes! I will not disobey your orders, ma'am!"_

"_This is not a joke, Tony! Why is everything a joke to you?"_

"_Funny things are," he answered but when she narrowed her eyes at him, he gulped. "But this is not funny, Pep. I understand. I promise…I swear to you I will not let you down."_

"_You should know better, Pepper," Rhodey said and shook his head. "He only remembers to put on clothes because otherwise people in the street would throw rotten vegetables at him."_

"_No, Rhodey. I only put on clothes because it gets cold at night."_

"_Stop it, you two!" Pepper yelled. "You, you should trust your friend a little bit more," she pointed at Rhodey. "And you," she then pointed at Tony, "you should start becoming more responsible with your life and the decisions you make. I swear if it wasn't for me and Rhodey babysitting you, you'd be dead by now. Seriously, injecting yourself with Extremis? I mean, it worked and all but what if it hadn't? You can't leave all your decisions to luck!"_

"_I didn't leave it up to luck, Pepper. I knew there was a slight possibility of me turning into a zombie, but I had to take the risk."_

"_Whatever," she rolled her eyes. "Just, please, don't pull that on us again, alright?"_

"_I won't," he smiled but then shrugged when he amended his statement. "I'll try."_

"_Good."_

"_And I'm taking your order seriously, Pep. In fact, mailing out your applications for you will be the first responsible of many things I will do from now on. You, Pepper Potts, will be so proud of me when you find out I did what you asked me to do."_

_Pepper gave the inventor a smile and placed her left hand on his right shoulder. "I already am," she whispered to him. Tony smiled back at her and rested his own right hand on hers, and they lost themselves in their eyes until Rhodey cleared his throat._

"_Sorry to interrupt," he said in a mocking tone. "But aren't you supposed to be leaving, Pepper?"_

"_Right," she said and pulled back her hand. "Well, yes…uhm…I'll see you guys later…bye!" she said as she stumbled her way out of the lab. Tony stared at her form until she disappeared behind the closed doors and did not speak again until he felt Rhodey hit him on the back._

"_Marry her already, dude," he joked and was surprised to see that as opposed to all the other times Tony had denied he had any interest in the redhead other than just pure friendship, he sighed._

"_Maybe I will," Tony responded, leaving a stunned James with wide eyes._

"He laughed at me when I said that, Pepper," Tony continued. "He said that he knew I'd be too chicken to tell you how I felt, but I told him I would, one day. Either way, he ended up taking his box of letters with him from the lab that night. He wanted to take yours, too. He said he would make sure he sent them all out and that I could take credit for the deed so that you could trust me more.

"I told him I didn't want him to. I told him I was going to do it myself and that when you got your acceptance letters you would see that you could trust me after all. But…but then…"

Pepper sighed. She knew what he was about to say; she had already heard it from Sandra. Everyone else in the college knew, and by now everyone else with a phone knew too. The school board was probably typing up her expulsion letter right about now.

"I forgot," he gulped. "We had some very weird missions after that…I knew I still had time to send them, and even though you asked me if I had sent them and I kept telling you I had, I never did. The box got lost somewhere in the lab under all the new stuff I was building, and then my dad came back…and Whitney went nuts…and then the Makluan attacked…

"I didn't remember about the box until me and Rhodey got our acceptance letters in the mail and you told me you hadn't gotten a response. I…I felt like shit, Pepper. I really did…"

The ginger remembered how strange she had found it that the day after she had questioned Tony about sending her letters she had gotten one in the mail. The letter had looked so official, however, and she was so excited to get both an acceptance letter and a full scholarship that she did not look more into it.

"So when I got to the lab that day, I flipped over the lab to find the damned box. I went through every single letter, Pepper…ALL fifty of them! I tried to find one with a deadline that had not already passed, but we were weeks away from graduation. There was not one college that would accept your application outside of normal channels…so…so I did it…I fixed the problem myself…it was my fault, anyway…so I fixed it…I…I just didn't tell you I did…

"I grabbed one of the letters at random; I didn't even stop and see which school it was or where it was located. I was desperate, Pepper. I wanted to make it up to you. I didn't want to prove that I was irresponsible; unreliable…I didn't want you to stop being my friend.

"I spent the rest of that day calling people until I got what I wanted. I wired the funds to the school and they promised they would overnight you a letter. They promised they would keep it a secret, but they made it clear I owed them big time. I felt even worse the next day when I realized what I had done. I had sent you far away from me…to the other side of the country. I tried to undo it and keep you closer, but it was too late. They wouldn't undo the process and I didn't have time to do anything else by that point."

It was then that Tony's voice began to break, and Pepper's heart broke with it.

"I…I wanted to tell you, Pepper. I wanted to…I wanted you…with me…when I saw you leave that day…at the airport…and then…and then you told me you were happy here…I didn't see the reason to tell you…but then…then you told me about Sandra…and then all these bad things started happening to you…I…I knew I had to fix them too. If I hadn't forgotten to send your forms…if I hadn't lied to you…you…you wouldn't be here…you wouldn't be so far away from your dad, from me…from the life you had in New York. When you told me over the phone that you were lonely…it killed me… I just had to do something about it…but I made it worse. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have been humiliated in front of the school…by that bitch…you wouldn't be suffering if it hadn't been for me…for what I did…I'm sorry, Pepper. I'm so sorry…"

Pepper tears began falling again, but this time they were not tears of anger, but of pity, of regret. She could not stand hearing her blue-eyed boy be so hard on himself, even if what he had done had been terrible. She regretted not listening to him. She regretted punching his pleading face. She pitied herself for letting the anger blind her. She regretted breaking up with him.

"_Pepper?"_ She heard him say behind the door_. "Are you still listening? Are you still angry at me? Can you forgive me? I…I need to know, Pepper. Please, talk to me. That was the only lie I ever told you. I didn't lie when I told you I'm in love with you. I didn't lie when I said I love you…I love you so much…I'd love you for so long…I think…I think Rhodey was right…I think I do want to make you…even if it sounds rushed…I want you to be…"_

Pepper's breath hitched in her throat. He did not have to finish his sentence; she knew what he was about to say – he had almost said it before. She stood up from the floor too fast, and her head began to spin. She held her weight against the wall for an instant, and as she was about to turn around to open the door, a sound coming from her laptop stopped her in her tracks.

If she had not ran to the device to see an e-mail from the college telling her to pack up her bags and leave the next day, she would have returned to the door immediately. If she had returned to the door immediately, Tony would have not seen her dress leave from under it and he would have not thought she had given up. If he would have not thought she did not forgive him, he would have not left, and if he would have not left, he would have seen Pepper open the door to find he was gone.


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

He was not sure where the rest of the night had gone, but by the time he got back to his dorm room at MIT, the sun was coming up on the horizon. He was exhausted, not having slept all night as he had flown around aimlessly, and he had not even bothered coming in through the front door; he had slid inside through his window.

As soon as his feet touched the floor, he shed off his armor, and he dumped his bag and Pepper's by his feet. He had gone back to the hotel room to check-out, and he did not have the heart to leave her items behind. She had not even taken her pod with her, and he had lost communication with the armor when it had begun running scheduled updates at around midnight. She was not responding to his e-mail messages either, and he knew she would not do so for a long time.

His head hurt and his eyes stung, and he hated himself for what he had done. He still held onto her shoes and had put them inside her bag, and he intended to give her some time to calm down before he attempted to return them to her personally. He was not done trying to make it up to her, and he was most certainly not done getting back at the bitch that had ratted him out.

_I guess I had it coming, though_, he reasoned and collapsed onto his bed even though there were plenty of other things to do right now.

His suit had almost ran out of juice two hours ago, so he had shut down all non-essential systems so that he could make it back to college in one piece, but he was too tired to swap the battery right now. He also still had to finish his homework, and do grocery shopping for him and his roommates for the week, and above all he still had to find out what was going to happen to Pepper now that everyone knew he had bought her ticket to Berkeley.

He already knew it was not going to be good; the news had gone viral last night, forcing him to shut all communications and notifications of the press until he was ready to stand next to her and fix what he had done.

His hand went under his pillow to adjust its position, and it was then he remembered what he kept under it. He pulled out Pepper's naughty gift to him, and the memories of their times together came back to him. He closed his eyes and groaned, feeling the weight of his guilt pushing down so hard on his back that he could barely breathe.

He shoved the thong back under the pillow and sighed. He could not deal with it right now. He needed to rest, recharge and regroup. This was just like one of his missions. The enemy was almost everyone around them, but he was determined to square away the wrongs and earn back Pepper's trust, no matter what.

He felt his body quickly shutting down, and just about as he was getting ready to pass out, he heard the door of his room slam open. "DUDE! What the hell are you doing here?"

Tony pretended not to hear Rick's question and refused to move, but when he did not show any signs of being aware, Richard's tone became even more demanding. "Stark, seriously! Why haven't you left yet?"

_"Is he still here?"_ Tony heard Ray ask from the living room on his way to Tony's room_. _"Why is he still here?"

Tony tried to ignore Ray's questions too, but when the two men pulled the covers from him and began poking him, Tony had had enough. "What the fuck do you two think you're doing? Let me rest! I'm tired!"

"Haven't you heard? You shouldn't be here right now!"

"Yeah!" Lewis said as soon as he walked inside the room. "Why are you here?"

"What do you mean why am I here? I live here, you idiots!" Tony spat, anger pouring out of every word he said, and wanting nothing to do with whatever game his roommates were currently playing. It was clear to him that they had heard about Pepper by now, and surely they wanted to know more about the entire situation from his side of the story, or at least send him back to California to patch things up with the ginger. "Get out and leave me alone! I want to sleep!"

"Tone, really, you haven't heard?" Lewis asked again in a serious intonation Tony had never heard him use. Lewis was the least sharp of the trio, but he was also one that would sober up immediately when the situation demanded it. "Dude, he doesn't know."

"Know what?" Tony asked.

"Uh," Ray hesitated. "You haven't watched TV lately have you, as in the last hour?"

"No. Why?" the inventor asked again, incredibly annoyed with the cryptic clues. When none of the three men said anything else, Tony groaned and got up from his bed and walked between them, out of his bedroom and into the common room. "What is it?"

"No, he's gonna blow it up again!" Lewis said and took the remote control away from Tony, but the genius simply called on Extremis to turn it on anyway.

"I hate it when he does that," Lewis said and took a few steps away from Tony. Rick and Ray joined them in no time, and they eyed each other nervously while Tony channel surfed to find a news station. Finally, when he found one he raised the volume of the television, crossed his arms over his chest and listened to the newscast.

_"This is live from the scene of destruction, ladies and gentlemen. We show you these images because it is difficult to describe what occurred here last night at around 1:17 AM PST. Officials at The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have released a preliminary report of the seismic event that shook the West Coast to the ruins you see right now on your television screen, and they placed the epicenter of it at coordinates near Oakland, California. The epicenter, for those viewers who are not familiar with the workings of an earthquake, is nothing more than the location, on land, directly above the origination of the seism. In other words, this 6.9-magnitude earthquake has flattened Oakland and surrounding cities and landmarks, including the nearby University of Berkeley that had been celebrating the closing of their Homecoming events last night."_

Tony had to hold on to the back of the couch to keep him from collapsing onto the floor.

_"City officials estimate that millions of people are without power, shelter, and have lost everything they had in their homes. Hundreds of others are unaccounted for – presumably buried under the rubble – and it is impossible to estimate how many of them are still alive. The National Guard arrived an hour ago, and FEMA is in the process of speeding up the procedure to help the President call for a state of emergency, and to release federal funds to help with the search and rescue efforts."_

The inventor's breathing became ragged and his entire body shook in fear. He shifted his gaze from the screen to his roommates who were also at a loss, and giving him looks of pity he had never seen on them before.

"We thought you had stayed with her, Tone," Lewis said. "We thought you'd be around…"

"We tried calling you," Ray said. "But you never answered your phone."

"She goes to Berkeley, doesn't she?" Rick asked. "Pepper…she…she was there, wasn't she?"

Tony's eyes landed on the screen again for an instant, still trying to put himself together, before he spoke again. "I…I disabled it. We…we had a fight."

"About you helping her get admitted to Berkeley?" Ray asked. "Yeah, everyone knows. Berkeley issued a statement last night that she was being expelled, and so was that girl…Sandra something. And the board members who took your money are getting fired…or…well…that was the plan."

_"The area is very dangerous at the moment," _the reporter continued._ "So we please ask everyone to stay away. If you are looking for a loved one, the best thing you can do is submit their name to the Red Cross' national registry and once their whereabouts are found, you will receive a notification of such. City officials urge everyone in the zone to seek shelter, and everyone outside the zone to remain home. Communication has been lost as the power lines and towers have gone down, and the Golden Gate Bridge is in no condition to be used, slowing down the organization of rescue groups…"_

_The bridge_, Tony thought. _The bridge Pepper risked her life to keep afloat_. He watched the images of the destruction on the West Coast for another moment before he ran back to his room, followed closely behind by his roommates.

"Pepper," Tony ran to his closet and took out the box where he kept spare batteries for his armor. "Have they said anything about her?"

The three men again stared at each other nervously, and they silently chose Richard to be the one to give the news to the inventor. "Yes," he began. "They've talked about her."

"What did they say?" Tony asked as he finished replacing the battery in his suit and then ran to his bag to take out his pod. He enabled communications in his suit, laptop and the pod and the room was instantly filled with loud alarms, forcing the four men to cover their ears. "Fuck!"

The inventor became overwhelmed, not sure what to check first. His inbox was filled with server warnings, his suit with messages from Rhodey, and his pod from messages from Rhodey, his father, Virgil and Pepper.

"What did they say about her?" Tony asked again as he began suiting up. He did not have to go through all the messages right now; he just had to get to California right now.

"Well," Rick continued. "They said that she was seen helping out. They said she was flying all over the place, and not just on campus…she was everywhere… as Rescue, you know."

"Of course she would," Tony said as he finished putting on his suit and waited for the server to reconnect with Pepper's suit. "That's what she does."

"She helped a lot of people escape…and she even started digging up the ones that were under the buildings. There was no power, so they said that she lent some from her battery to help power up drills and other equipment the firefighters were using to help people out."

"And?" Tony asked and waited for the status report of the Stealth armor.

"And, the last time anyone heard or saw her, was when she flew inside the ballroom of Berkeley. It had caught fire with all the electrical equipment that had been left behind after the dance. She…they…no one has seen her since."

Tony forgot how to breathe when he heard the words being said and saw the report of Rescue's temporary armor; the flimsy armor he had left her while she proved to him she was ready to take on the upgraded one. The armor that could hold up to an earthquake's aftermath only for so long; the armor in his entire arsenal that was the weakest one of them all.

It was offline, and its last log of activity had been reported at 3:48 AM – in the form of a call; a call to him.


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

He froze for a moment before he pulled up the records of calls to his pod on the screen of the suit. He had it scroll down to the last call that had come from Pepper at the time he had just seen and his eyes landed on the notification that a voicemail had been left from that call.

Forgetting that his friends were still there, Tony turned around in place and flew out the window, breaking it as he did, and set his flight path directly to Berkeley. As he waited for the voicemail to load, he used Extremis to hack into his suits – all of them, and set them to fly to Berkeley as well. Seconds before the voicemail from Pepper was to play, an incoming call interrupted the procedure. It was a call from James Rhodes.

"Rhodey?"

"_What the hell, man?!" _Rhodey's angry face appeared on screen._ "Where the fuck have you been? Everyone has been calling you nonstop and you don't have the decency to answer your damned phone, or your text messages or emails or your motherfucking voicemails? All that tech and we can't find you? What gives?"_

"Rhodey, I'm sorry. I…I made a mistake."

"_Other than not telling Pepper you forgot to send her college applications? Dude, I told you I'd send them for her, you jackass!"_

"I know! I know! But that's not important right now; you can beat me for it up later. Where is she?"

"_Where is she? Where is SHE? Where are YOU? I'm on my way to California to find her. I'm about five minutes away from landing."_

"They…the Air Force, they let you out?"

"_Yes, they let me out! The place is trashed, dude, and with the bridges and ferries down, they can't send supplies to the people there."_

"What about Pepper?"

"_You, of all people, should know about her. They haven't heard anything from her in hours. They think she…they think she didn't make it out of the building when it collapsed."_

"Rhodey, don't…don't tell me this…I can't…"

"_You can't what? Deal with it? Do you think you're the only one worried about her? And when were you planning on telling me you guys were dating now, huh? When I got the invitation for your freaking wedding? You fucked up, Tony; BIG TIME. If I don't kill you, her dad will. If it wasn't for you covering up your screw-up, she wouldn't have been in Berkeley in the first place. You sent her to her grave, you jerk!"_

"Shut up, Rhodey!" Tony spat back. He did not need to hear any of this, not until he could straighten things out with Pepper; not until the truth in Rhodey's words would not hurt as much. The situation itself was horrendous enough without having to listen to his _surrogate father_ chew him out. He understood Rhodey was probably just venting his frustration on him, but he too had wrath to vent. "Why the hell are you telling me this, huh? What kind of friend are you being now?"

"_The best kind, Tony, and you need to hear this because I know how you get when you get mad. And I know you're hitting yourself about it right now. We don't need you mad; Pepper doesn't need you mad. She needs you to focus. You need to pull your head out of your ass and get in the game, Stark. Pepper is not only important to you, but to a lot of people, and you didn't even know the danger you'd put her in. And why the hell wasn't she wearing her suit? The server says she was wearing the regular Stealth armor. Why?"_

"I…well…after the bridge incident…she…I got mad and…"

"_Did you…did you take away her suit?"_

"Only…only temporarily…I was…I was going to give it back…better…upgraded…"

The look on Rhodey's face told Tony to not even try to justify his actions to his friend. From all the people Tony knew, Rhodey had never once held back in making sure the inventor knew when he had royally screwed up. Even Pepper sometimes tried to make his actions sound justified if she saw Tony was beating himself up about something he had done, but Rhodey had no such sympathy for the blue-eyed boy.

"I…I'll be there in half an hour," Tony finally said. "I sent all the suits there and I'll scatter them around to help out but…but I'm going to her last known location. I'm going to search for her."

"_Are you sure?"_ Rhodey asked_. "Are you sure you want to do that? You may not like what you find. Have you even checked the logs?"_

"Not yet. Why?"

Rhodey sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. He hated being the bearer of bad news. _"The battery ran out. She took off the suit. She was not wearing it when the building collapsed."_

"She…she… she _what_?"

"_Don't go looking for her. I'll search for you."_

"No, I…she needs me. She might…maybe she made it. Maybe she just doesn't have a way to tell us she's alive."

"_Tony,"_ Rhodey shook his head. _"I know…I know you don't want to hear it, but…you have to get ready. You've got to be ready to find her…gone."_

Tony closed his eyes. "What…what are you going to do when you get there?"

"_I was going to look for her, but if you insist in doing that yourself, I'm going to fly the supplies over the ocean and into the shelters."_

"Alright. You…you do that. Have the system help you with the other suits to do whatever you need them to do. I…I'm sending the Hulk Buster to help me find Pepper."

"_Roger that. I'm already here, Tony. I'm signing out."_

"OK, Rhodey. Watch out, man."

"_I will. You too,"_ Rhodey said and after giving the inventor a glance of disappointment, he ended the call.

Tony had to give himself a few seconds to recover from the call and when he remembered several voicemails from Pepper were waiting, he snapped out of his shock. Even though he had wanted to hear the last one first, he decided to start with the first one she had left. He had the computer sort through all of the messages, and pulled out all of Pepper's and the ones that had no recognized sender, commanding the system to play them all one by one in the order they had been received, the first one being around fifteen minutes after had left Berkeley.

"_Voice message from unknown caller. Received at 12:26 AM PST: Tony, it's Pepper. I…I came out into the hall and you were gone. I heard you, Tony. I…I heard everything you said. I...I'm upset…I'm…disappointed...but I'm not mad, at least not anymore. Can we…can we talk it out? I don't have my pod, and the suit is down for updates…I tried sending you an e-mail but for some reason they won't go thru; I think the internet is down or something. Are you still in California? Do you want to work this out? Please, come back, Tony. I'm calling from a pay phone, but I'll try again in a little while. Bye."_

"_Voice message from unknown caller. Received at 12:38 AM PST: Tony, it's me again. I forgot to tell you I'm sorry. I'm sorry for going off on you. I should've known you wouldn't just use me like that. I just…all I could think of was the look on everyone's faces…and the embarrassment…and…" _she sighed._ "Please, please call me back. I figured out the number to this pay phone; the internet is still down. The number is 510-254-2525. I'm staying next to it in case you call. Bye."_

"_Voice message from unknown caller. Received at 12:56 AM PST: Tony, are you mad at me? Did you…did you really give up? I'm sorry I left you out there in the hall. I'm sorry I punched you," _Tony heard a sob and a sniffle, and he closed his eyes, hearing how Pepper's voice began to break down._" I…I love you, Tony. I want to be with you, if you still want me. Please…please call me back. I want to…work things out…if you'd still take me…I…want to be…I do, Tony. Please, please come back."_

"_Voice message from unknown caller. Received at 1:13 AM PST: Tony, it's getting cold out here, so I'm going to run back to my dorm for a jacket. If you call and I don't answer, please try again. I'll be back in two seconds. I want to fix this, Tony. If you want me to wait until the morning, I will but, please, please tell me we're going to be alright. OK. Bye."_

"_Voice message from user: Rescue. Received at 1:45 AM PST: Oh, my God, Tony! There was an earthquake! Are you still in California? Are you back at the hotel? Oh, Jesus! It's awful Tony. Why is your suit offline? And your pod? You're not trapped, right? There's so many people trapped, Tony. I…I have to help out. Please call me back. I'm in the suit for now."_

"_Voice message from user: Rescue. Received at 2:38 AM PST: Tony! Tony, are you there? There's blood everywhere! People are dead, Tony! It's like…I've never seen anything like this…the suit is holding up for now but it's starting to give me warning signs…some I don't even know what the hell they are. Are you alive? Please tell me you're alive! Send me a sign, Tony. I can't go looking for you…I'm needed here. The suit…I should've gone looking for you right after you left but the suit wouldn't respond because of the upgrades…is your suit updating, too? Please, Tony, let me know you made it out. People are dead around me, Tony. I'm trying to help but there are so many of them…I don't know if I can save them all!"_

"_Voice message from user: Rescue. Received at 3:31 AM PST: Tony," _her voice sounded strained, and her breathing was labored._ "I can't do this much longer…Where are you? If you don't…If you don't want to get together again, that's fine but…these people…they need Iron Man. It's like a war zone in here, Tony. I'm finding more dead than alive…I can't…" _he heard her sob._ "This is horrible! Where are you? Where…" _there was suddenly a long silence, and if it was not for the fact that the recording was still playing, Tony would have thought the message had ended abruptly. _"Tony, there's a fire…the ballroom…I heard it on the police frequencies…I'm the closest person to it…I have to go…I…my suit is at 4% but...I'm the closest one…bye…"_

"_Voice message from user: Rescue. Received at 3:48 AM PST: Tony, I hope you get this message…" _she took a deep breath._ "I'm taking off the suit…it's…it's not looking good…" _he heard her cough._ "It's hard to breathe, Tony… I can't…see…it's so dark…I just want to…to tell…to let you know…I love…I love you so much…and…and…the grandkids…it would've been nice…it would've…if you had asked…I'd…I would've said yes…I…I would've said yes…" _she sobbed. _"Tony, I'm scared…I'm so scared…but…but only because you didn't forgive me…only because I didn't get to say goodbye before I…Tony…only because I didn't get to see you one more…"_

"End of messages," the computer said. "Would you like to replay?"

Tony was too shocked to answer, and he did not speak again until the map showed him he was a mile away from the location of the call he had just heard.

* * *

**A/N**: I just want to point out that I only just found out that an actual earthquake hit the already Typhoon-struck Philippines today. This is, by no means, an insult to their grieving and disaster. I wish a prompt recovery to the ones affected by these tragedies, and send my sincere apologies if any of these made-up situations have insulted anyone.


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

Twelve hours since reinforcements in the form of an army of suits of armor had arrived at ground zero, the rescue efforts continued without rest. The area had been declared to be in a state of emergency little over two hours ago and as such even more resources had been made available to haul back and forth from the unaffected cities to the devastated ones. For the inventor, it was a double-edge sword that there were so many supplies around to help those who had just lost it all. On the one hand, the more supplies that were available, the more lives he could help save. However, the more supplies that were available, the more Iron Man had been slowly taken away from his main goal: finding his redhead alive.

With a lot of sweat, blood and tears, the _Iron Brigade_, War Machine, Iron Man, and the many other helping hands around them had been finding and continued to find many people still alive despite the thinning odds. They had pulled them out of the wreckage, helped shelters get provisions, and had taken away the bodies of those who had not made it from the eyes of those who had. Just as Pepper had told Tony in one of the many voicemails she had left him, the San Francisco-Oakland area was nothing short of a war zone and with every other dead body that was found it appeared to Tony that the locals had lost the round.

It had been twelve full hours from the time when he had landed in California, and in between the rather small aftershocks the blue-eyed boy had been fighting his shutting-down body ever since. Forty-eight hours had passed since the game and only four of those had been of sleep for him. His activities during Homecoming seemed like a dream to him now; so blurry and so distant that he almost believed they had never actually occurred in the first place. Even the fight with Pepper was not at the forefront of his mind anymore, regardless of how much that argument related to the current events unfolding before him.

Five minutes ago he had finally returned to the Berkeley area again after helping patch-up the bridge and some of the ferries so that they were in condition to be used. The already tightly-packed, overpopulated cities were feeling smaller and smaller as more survivors were found, and the rubble-littered streets made it so that there was not enough room for everyone. It was imperative that the National Guard began evacuating these people from the tragedy-struck areas. The shelters were already filled to capacity, and the night was quickly approaching. It was literally a race against time.

"There's five 419's over here!" The inventor heard a nearby police officer scream to the group. He lifted his gaze from the ground to the scene knowing what he would find. From all the codes they were using to communicate with each other, a 419 had been quickly memorized by anyone assisting in the search efforts. Code 419 meant _dead human body_, and it appeared the officer had just found five.

Without waiting to be called, Iron Man stood up from his position on the rubble and walked over to the group. Silently, he helped the rescue crew pull the broken bodies from the debris. As with every other person that had been found – dead or alive – he waited for the officers to find any proof of ID that would identify the bodies. He would then find their record and send out their names to the Red Cross to notify family members of the fate of their loved ones.

So many people saved; so many people lost, and yet his girlfriend was nowhere to be found.

"Thanks, Iron Man," the leader of the rescue crew that Tony had just helped told the hero. "You…you should take a break now. We, uhm…we got orders to stop the search at sunset. We're…we are starting cleanup and recovery tomorrow morning."

The inventor knew what _cleanup and recovery_ meant. The simple phrase was code for 'we ain't finding no one alive no more; we're just gonna clean up the mess now.' For a normal person the order to give up on finding more people alive would have sounded insane after not even twenty-four hours had passed since the earthquake, but given the magnitude and damage around, it was very unlikely that whoever was still buried under the piles of concrete and steel would still be alive tomorrow.

He stared at the horizon and realized sunset was happening in about half an hour, which meant he was finally going to be left to his own devices to continue his own personal search. It was this very moment, this fraction of a second when he had thought all hope had been lost, that Tony received the call he had been waiting for since he had arrived.

The Stealth Armor had been found.

_"Tony, are you there? Did you hear the call?"_ Rhodey's faced popped up on the screen of the tired Iron Man. The military student could tell from the vital stats of the suit that Tony was running on fumes, and he prayed that those fumes did not run out until he confirmed that Pepper had been indeed found or the inventor would work himself to death looking for her if it was a false alarm. _"I'm not near the college right now. Are you close by?"_

"Yeah, I got it." Tony responded as he clumsily ran to the location pointed on the map, waiting for the sudden surge of adrenaline to help him make the trek. He knew news that the Stealth Armor being found could potentially mean that Pepper was also nearby, but at this point in time and knowing the redhead had taken off the suit before it had powered down, he was not getting his hopes up just yet. "I'm here."

The rescue crew had found the suit far away from the location the last call had been made, and this fact told Tony why he had not been able to find her until now. It was not as if it was just a mere feet away from the remains of the burned down building – it was actually an entire mile apart. _"Is she alive?"_ Tony heard his friend ask. _"Did she make it?"_

"I… I don't know," Tony admitted and when his eyes landed on the group of people trying to pry off the suit he sped up to stand near them. "Please, get out of the way," Iron Man commanded. "I'll take it from here."

The crew members did as told and took a step back but remained close to the hero in case their help was needed; in case the hero found his lady not alive.

"I'll call you back, Rhodey," he said and the call was immediately cut off. His body felt heavy and his eyes lids were closing, but he refused to give up now that the suit had been found. Even if the suit was in worse condition than he had thought it would be, there was still a slight chance she had made it out; maybe she was still alive.

He fell to his knees before the armor, placed his hand over the suit's battery and gave it a jolt. He did not expect Rescue to continue assisting, so he gave the suit just enough juice to power up for release only and nothing more. Inside his helmet's screen, the bottom right corner icon for Rescue that had been off all along finally lit up. He brought up the scans for the suit and he was glad to see that there was someone inside the suit after all. The initial reports looked promising, noting that the user was indeed still alive.

_She made it_, he thought with relief. _She made it out._

He initiated the sequence to open up the suit, and he held the armor in his arms. The suit was slow to respond to its command due to the low battery, but he patiently waited for it to come off. He could not wait to see her face. He could not wait to hear her voice. He could not wait to patch things up between them. Now that Pepper was expelled from Berkeley, he could try to convince her to come back to New York, away from earthquake-prone lands, and close to him.

The helmet finally came off, and even though there were cuts and dried blood, the user was going to be fine.

Except the user was not Pepper, but Pepper's blonde roommate instead.

"What the hell?" Tony's armored hand brushed away the golden tresses of the former Queen of Berkeley, and after blinking a few times he realized he was not seeing things. It was not his Pepper in his arms. It was not the woman he loved that had been found. It was the first and only woman so far that he had actually hated with all his body, mind and soul.

_Why is she wearing the armor? She…the armors are coded…there's no way she could have put it on…unless…_

And then it dawned on Tony: Pepper had willingly put it on the girl.

"Let's get some help over here," Iron Man called over his shoulder. "This woman needs medical attention."

He sometimes really hated having to be the good guy.

"Is this Rescue?" A man asked with narrowed eyes. "I thought she was a redhead?"

"She is. This is not her," Tony responded and pulled Sandra's body completely from the suit. Behind him a group of paramedics were already coming his way. They set the stretcher on the ground and Tony laid the girl on it. "I need to know the moment this woman wakes up. She'd have to have been near Pepper to have the suit on. Do you understand? She wakes, I get a call. Got it?"

"Yes, sir," one of the paramedics said before he ordered his crew to take away the girl, and the inventor remained where he was.

Tony's shoulders slumped and he covered his armored face with his gauntlet hands, still on his knees. _Did you really give up your suit for her, Pepper? She…after everything she did…you still helped her?_

Unfortunately, the inventor knew this was something Pepper would have done for anyone, anywhere; that was just how she was, and in that respect they were both the same.

"_I took risks, Pepper, so other people didn't have to. Particularly not those people I care about," he said with barely controlled rage. "And most especially, not my girlfriend."_

_ "Well, what were you thinking giving me and Rhodey suits? Surely you knew that we were bound to be faced with a difficult situation at some point, right? Don't tell me that your smart mind didn't tell you that putting us inside a suit of armor would make us want to do the right thing; the same things you do every day."_

"Pepper," he whispered, staring down at the empty suit of armor. "Where are you, Pepper?" he clenched his hands and jaw, lying on all fours above the Stealth Armor, as his mind further attacked him with images of the past.

_Tony flared his nostrils, looked away from her gaze, and his eyes landed on her bandaged leg. He stared at it without saying a word until he felt Pepper's left hand land on the right side of his face, making him stare at her pleading eyes again. "You don't have to intervene every time something doesn't go as planned, Tony. It's not your job to try to fix my life when it gets screwed up; shit happens. I'm not your friend or dating you just so that everything is easier for me. I'm with you because I want to be; because I love you just the way you are, and I hope you love me just the way I am, too."_

"No, please…don't take her away…" He gritted his teeth, dug his hands in the rubble and closed his eyes.

"_Are you really in love with me, Tony?"_

"_Haven't my actions already told you so?"_

"_You told me you liked me. The fact that you like someone doesn't mean you are in love with them; they are not the same thing. Being in love with someone entails…"_

"_That I love you," he interrupted her, eyes glued to hers. "Being in love with you means that I love you."_

Iron Man grabbed a handful of the rubble near him and crushed it to dust in his armored hand.

"_How?"_

_ "Leave it all to me. All you have to do is make sure you're there for the game and the dance."_

_ "But, Tony, I…"_

_ "Don't you trust me, Pepper?"_

_ "I…" she inhaled deeply. "I trust you, Tony. You know I trust you with my life."_

"She trusted me…after everything…she still…and with her life…and I…I…" The inventor did not finish his sentence and instead collapsed where he lay; the last sound he heard was of Rhodey calling his name.


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

"No, he's still asleep," a male voice whispered.

_Who is asleep?_

"Yes, it's been a week."

_A week of what?_

"We had to sedate him."

_Who was sedated?_

"He should be getting up anytime now."

_What is going on?_

"No, he doesn't know. He'll find out when he wakes up."

_Doesn't know what? Who doesn't know? Where am I?_

"OK. I'm on my way there. Bye." Howard Stark finished murmuring the call he had been on and stood up from his chair. Without bothering to look at his son in the hospital bed he left the room, closing the door behind him as quietly as possible. He was not happy that his only son had been stuck to a bed in the Helicarrier, but given the circumstances there had not been much of a choice.

_Dad?_

The inventor suddenly recognized the voice as being the one of his father and waited a few more seconds after he had left before he finally opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the television in the upper corner of the room, and to his surprise it was playing a cartoon. He tried hacking into it with Extremis to find out what day it was and where he was right now, but he felt as if there was a veil keeping his brain from doing what he wanted to do. The memory about Stark Sr. saying he had been sedated returned to him, and he realized that he had been drugged to keep him from doing things his way.

He turned to his left and stared at the IV line bag that was attached to his hand, and other than some minor aches here and there he felt relatively alright. He then looked down at his body and saw no casts were present, and the lack of more complex medical equipment around him told him he was going to be just fine.

It took him a moment to remember how he had ended up in the hospital in the first place, and after digging into his foggy mind he was hit with the answer to his question. He was here because he had passed out of exhaustion caused by his relentless search for Pepper Potts.

_Pepper_. Thinking about the ginger sobered him up some more and he was able to lift his head. The move albeit slow and calculated had made his head spin, and he allowed it a moment to fix itself. Once the room was not moving anymore, he lifted himself a little bit more and more until he was finally able to sit up. The small effort had taken a lot out of him and he hung his head, breathing considerably hard. Either he was still extremely tired, or the doctors had been pumping him crazy with morphine for quite some time now.

He closed his eyes for a moment, cursing his slowly responding body and rested the weight of his head on his right hand. He groaned and rubbed his forehead with his fingers, taking in deep breaths to fight the sudden urge to throw up. When he finally felt a little bit more like himself he decided to look up and to his right, and it was then he realized he was not in a private room.

There was another bed next to his and it was not empty.

In fact, it was currently occupied by someone he thought he had lost, and she was sitting up on the edge of it, crossed feet dangling over the side, hands resting on her lap and a smile plastered on her face. "I was wondering how long it would take you to see me here. Rhodey owes me ten bucks."

He was speechless for a long minute, his eyes blinking fast as if he did not believe what he was seeing. Truth was he did _not _believe it, and just as before when they had found the Stealth Armor in the ruins of Berkeley University, he refused to call victory so quickly. He narrowed his eyes at her and stared at her up and down, making note of her current state, trying to find the smallest hint that told him he was not seeing things…again…

She was wearing a pink hospital gown, and given her bare feet and the wristband on her left arm it could be safely assumed that she was a patient just as he currently was. She had some minor scratches and bruises on her arms and legs, and her right arm was held by a sling. Her hair was loose and damp, as if she had just come back from showering, and next to her sitting form rested a Stark Pod.

She noticed he was eyeing the device so she grabbed it and shook it, pointing to the engraving of her name on it. "This is mine; I got bored waiting for you to wake up. Yours is in the bag over there," she pointed behind her to his faithful gym bag on the floor.

He looked away from her and to the door and back, and when she was still sitting there, tilting her head to the side, only then he dared to speak. "Are we dead?"

Pepper was taken aback and then shook her head vehemently. "If we are then heaven sucks," she pointed to her sling. "I didn't break it, just dislocated it, but they won't let me move it. Other than that I'm alright," she added the last part when she saw his eyes staring at her again. When he continued to look at her in disbelief she sighed, rolled her eyes and jumped off the bed. She took the two steps that separated their beds and stood by the side of his, all the while the inventor remained silent.

"I guess the sedatives haven't completely worn off, right?" she asked with a disappointed face. "It took me a day or so for mine to really leave my system, so you should probably go back to sleep for now. I'll tell your dad you finally woke up."

Even though his eyes were seeing her, his ears hearing her, and his nose picking up the scent of her shampoo, he absolutely denied to speak to what he strongly believe was nothing but a figment of his imagination; a cruel one at that. The redhead exhaled loudly before she pinched Tony's exposed right arm.

"OUCH!" He screamed and rubbed his arm up and down with his left hand, narrowing his eyes at the smirking girl. "What you do that for?"

"You look like you think you're dreaming, Stark," she said and leaned down so that her face was inches away from his. "I just proved to you that you're not."

He eyed the already reddening patch of skin on his arm and then looked up to stare at her. His hand then slowly reached out to touch her face and she closed her eyes when his fingertips ran down her cheek. He then took them to her lips and she could not stop herself from kissing them. She slowly opened her eyes again when he retracted his hand from her to see his disbelieving face was melting away. "Pepper?"

"So you_ do_ remember who I am, huh? I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me."

The familiar conversation returned to him and he smiled. "Forget about you? Never, Pepper."

The ginger also remembered their first phone conversation and returned the smile to him before stating her expected side of the dialogue. "You promise?"

"I…" he swallowed hard and moistened his lips in anticipation. "I swear," he breathed before he pulled her face down to his and kissed her. Pepper shifted her body so that she now sat on the edge of the bed and she faced the genius, and Tony adjusted his so that his hands could get a better grip on her face and neck and continued to kiss her. He felt the slight tug of the IV line on his left arm, so he stopped the kiss for the quick moment it took him to pull it off his skin.

"Tony, that's…"

"In the way," he said and kissed her again. She chuckled behind his lips and her hands tugged onto the front of his hospital gown, and even though her sling-bound arm was uncomfortable she did not dare to stop what she was doing. The boy then pulled away for a moment to catch his breath but in between his recovery he kissed her all over her face. She closed her eyes and enjoyed each and every single one of his touches, and when his lungs had recovered he kissed her again.

It was as if they had not done so in a long time, and while it was true for many reasons, neither of them wanted for the moment to end. However, they soon remembered that there were still important questions to be asked and issues still unresolved, so they both reluctantly pulled away from each other when it felt like it was time to clear things up.

Pepper climbed further into the bed and Tony moved to the side to give her more space, and before the conversation could begin the inventor grabbed her hands and held them in his. "What happened, Pepper?"

The ginger sighed. "Too many things. I guess you know most of it anyway, right?"

"I think so but…how did you make it out? Your last message…it made it seem as if you were in big trouble, Pepper. And then I found Sandra in your armor. How did that happen? How did you survive?"

"Well," she began. "I'd gone around the city helping people after the earthquake – you know, being Rescue and all – and then when I heard about the fire I went back to campus. I got some of the people out of there, and in the end there were ten of us that got trapped inside, including Sandra and Greg who had stayed behind after the dance to hang around with Daniel and Janet. I told everyone that there was one way we could probably make it but that we had to act quickly and they agreed to do whatever I said. I told them I was going to use the last of my energy to blow up a hole in the wall and they all had to run out before the building collapsed."

"Pepper, that's…that was…"

"Last resort, Tony," she said. "And our only chance. Anyway, it was either die running out or die being fried, so they got ready and I started firing up my repulsors and then blasted the wall. Everyone started running toward it and of course the building started coming down on us faster than we could run. I put up a minor shield when I saw the last of us weren't going to make it out and the building fell on us."

"Who…who was left?"

"Take a guess."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously," she replied. "I'd dislocated my arm trying to keep up the shield and…well…long story short…I was holding up the shield but I knew I could only do it for so long. So, I slowly gave Sandra my suit because she was going to be under the worst part of it, and while I was taking off my suit I…I called you…"

"I heard it…" he hung his head and stared at their linked hands. "I heard your message, Pepper, and I…"

"Don't," she interrupted him. "Let's not talk about that."

"Why?" He faced her. "I want to talk about it. I want to make it clear that…that I… that we…"

"I…I…you don't have to say it, Tony. I already know…everything. And, I'm sorry, too."

"How…how do you know?"

She bit her lip and looked away. "You…you really _do_ talk in your sleep… a lot…"

Tony's eyes widened and his mouth went agape, hoping that his sleep talking had not revealed more than he was ready to admit to her just yet. He cleared his throat and pulled on the collar of his hospital gown before speaking up again. "Yeah, you're right. No need…there's no need for…yeah…"

An uncomfortable silence followed his statement but then Pepper broke it by continuing her story. "So, it turns out that under the ballroom runs one of the main sewer line systems of the campus, so when the building came down we ended up going through the floor and the ground, and landed inside the room underneath. I passed out almost immediately, and Sandra hit her head on the way down so she was out for the count, too."

"So, how did you get out?"

"Greg," she answered, her voice suddenly turning grave. "Greg was still with us…he…he got us both out. He dragged us both down the lines for a while, and when he was almost sure the ground wouldn't come down on us anymore he took turns bringing us out to the surface through a manhole. He got Sandra out, still in the suit, and then me."

"Greg? Really? Wow," Tony sighed. "I guess I owe him a big thank you, after all, huh?"

"Yes but," she lowered her head. "But you…_I_…we _can't_ thank him anymore."

Tony frowned and used his right hand to hold Pepper's chin and made her look up at him. When he saw her eyes were filling with tears and her lips begin to quiver, he sighed. "Oh, Pepper…I'm sorry…I…how?"

Pepper swallowed a sob. "The building we'd come out next to was damaged by the quake, and shortly after he had us on the ground an aftershock hit. The side of the building came down on us, but since Sandra was covered by the suit, it was just him and me who were out of luck. I was unconscious so he…he…" she took in a deep breath. "Rhodey found us a few feet from where you'd found Sandra. He was on top of me…but he didn't…he wasn't…"

Tony pulled Pepper to him and let her cry on his shoulder. She cried harder than Tony expected her to do but he figured that the fears and anxiety caused by the entire experience had been slowly building up inside her, and knowing her she had been probably holding it in until now. In fact, so had he, but knowing that Pepper was alive was enough for him for now. He could deal with the rest later…_much_ later.

As her cries slowed down, Tony rearranged their position so that they both lay sideways on the bed, making sure her injured arm was not further damaged by having her rest on her left side, both of them facing the door. Tony then pressed her back against his chest, and kept her from falling off the tiny bed by surrounding her waist with his right arm. He placed a kiss on her neck and rested his chin on her right before whispering to her.

"I love you, Pepper."

The ginger smirked and moved her head slightly back to find his face and kissed him. "I love you, Tony."

The inventor gave her one more kiss before they both closed their eyes and passed out. There would be more time later to arrange Pepper's normal transfer to MIT. There would be more time later for Sandra and Pepper to patch things up, and though they would never be the best of friends, a silent understanding that their differences did not justify the continuation of the fights would come up. There would be more time later for Berkeley to beg Pepper to return to their campus only for her to decline in favor of remaining with her blue-eyed boy. But most important of all, there would be more time later to continue building their lives together by shattering the distance that had set them apart.

Miles.

No more.


	31. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

_60 years later…_

"And then, your Grandma came out of the bathroom and hit me in the face with the plunger!"

The young boy laughed hysterically at hearing the story his grandfather was telling him. He had never heard it before, and he had to wonder why no one had ever bothered to tell him how funny his grandmother could be.

"And what did you do, Grandpa?"

"What else could I've done? I gave up!"

Another bout of laughter hit the child, tears coming down his green eyes. "You're so funny! Grandma Pepper's the best!"

"Yes, she is."

"Andy! Get back here! We're leaving now!" The child heard his mother call him and he pouted. His eyes shifted from staring at his grandfather's blue ones to staring at his mother and father who waited for him by the car. "Andy, it's time to go."

The child sighed loudly before he returned his attention to his grandfather and shrugged. "I have to go, Grandpa. Can you tell more stories when I come back next year?"

"Of course!" Tony responded. "There's a lot more that I can tell you."

"Really? Is it true that you made a flying robot? Is it true that you used to be a superhero?"

"All true. _Especially_ the hero part."

"Andy!" His mother called again.

"Aw, man! I really have to go now but you promise you will tell me, right?'

"I promise."

"Yay! Well, buh-bye, Grandpa Tony."

"Bye, Andy."

The child ran to his parents and before he got in the car he gave his grandfather a bright smile. This was the first time he had seen the boy, but Tony could already tell he was a mini-Pepper in the making. He watched as his mother took the time to buckle him up in his toddler seat and it was then that he heard steps coming near him.

"You made me wait a long time, Pepper." Tony said and looked to his right to stare at the ginger narrow her eyes at him. "What?"

Pepper scoffed. "You have some nerve telling me that after you didn't even say goodbye, Stark."

Tony flinched. "Yeah, sorry about that. Didn't plan it, you know? But, still, why did you have to wait so long?"

"Five years is not a long time, Tony," she reasoned before her eyes landed on Andy and the child waved at them. Pepper waved back and blew him a kiss, making the boy smile even wider. "Besides, I had to make sure Andy was going to be alright. You know Laura's pregnancy was a high-risk one. I just had to wait until I knew he was going to make it."

"You oughta know he would've. Or did you forget who he was?"

"Of course I didn't! It just…escaped my old mind for a while."

"Riiight."

Pepper hit his shoulder with her hand, and he pretended to be hurt by it. After a moment of silence she spoke again. "So, what happens now?"

Tony shrugged. "Not much. Rhodey's coming next month, though. We could hang around until he stops by."

"I guess we could. Is it against the rules, you know, to hang around?"

"No."

"Then why didn't you stick around? You just up and left me, Tony," she crossed her arms over her chest. The inventor gave her a one-armed hug and pressed her face against the side of his chest.

"I did stick around, Pepper. I was with you, every day."

"You could've announced yourself, you know? Let me know you were there."

"Pep, I didn't do that when I pranked you in your dorm. What makes you think I was going to do it again, especially when you had one of those huge-ass plungers in your hand?"

Pepper laughed aloud. "I heard you told Andy the story. You just couldn't help yourself, could you?"

"Nope," he shook his head. "Someone has to tell him these things, you know? Laura and Kevin are so busy keeping SI working so perfectly – I sometimes wish they'd take a break. The company is not that important; family is."

"Maybe you should let them know."

"Maybe I will."

The couple stared in silence as one of their sons and his wife and their only child got ready to leave, but their departure was hindered when a keeper approached the driver seat of the vehicle they were in.

"Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"Do we have to stay looking like this?"

"What do you mean?" he stared down at her with a confused look.

"I mean, can't we, like…I don't know…change?"

"Change how?"

"Well, I don't very much like these clothes," she pulled at her black dress. "And I definitely don't like these gray hairs."

"Ah," the inventor said with a smile. "I can help with that, but it's gonna cost you."

"Here we go..." she rolled her eyes. "What's the cost?"

"The down payment is a kiss…The rest…we can talk about that later."

Pepper shook her head at him but still turned her body to face him. The blue-eyed genius gave her one of his triumphant, charming smiles before he cupped her face in his hands, leaned down and kissed her. They both took their time with the kiss, and when they heard the car starting to move again they broke apart. As Tony had promised, her red tresses were back and she was now wearing an outfit she had not worn since she was twenty-one.

"From all the clothes…" Pepper began.

"Those are my favorite ones!"

"Oh, I'm sure they are, and I'm sure I know why."

"I'm sure you do," he wiggled his eyebrows at her. "Do you remember? In the temple…on the work table…"

"Shut up, Tony," she blushed.

"Oh, yeah," he chuckled. "You DO remember."

"Well, yeah…" she looked away. "First… first time…"

"Well, at least you now know what the other payments will be."

"Jesus!" she fanned herself. "I take it that's not against the rules?"

Tony snorted. "Psh! _Hell_ no!"

"Are you supposed to be saying the word 'hell' in heaven?"

"This is not heaven, Pepper."

"Really?"

"Nope. But for me it's better than that," he rested his young-again hands on her young-again hips. "Because we're finally together again."

"This time forever, right?"

"Yup, Pep. This time, forever."

Back in the departing car, Andros Edward Stark stared through the back of the car and giggled. His mother would then ask him what he was staring at, and like every time he had visited his Grandpa, and today after leaving his Grandma here too, he would only shrug. Laura Stark would look at her husband, and he would – as every time – look back through his rear view mirror to see nothing out of the ordinary other than the now-two graves belonging to Anthony Edward Stark, and Patricia "Pepper" Potts-Stark.

**THE END**


End file.
